Could Rehab be the new weapon in a drug war? Could reducing the demand for narcotics be the key in the ending?
the vicious cycle?

(CNN) — As President Obama and Mexican President Felipe Calderon talk tough about cracking down on the deadly drug war, the United States is changing tactics in the battle against illegal narcotics at home.

The man Obama picked to be the new "drug czar," Gil Kerlikowske, has made it clear that the United States is going to do a better job of treating addicts to try to reduce the demand for narcotics. It’s a campaign pledge that the Obama administration thinks will give nonviolent offenders "a chance to serve their sentence, where appropriate, in the type of drug rehabilitation programs that have proven to work better than a prison term in changing bad behavior," according to the White House Web site.

Judge Paul Gluchowski, who works with the Prince William County Juvenile Drug Court in Virginia, dismissed the notion that a drug treatment program is the easy way out. If anyone thinks that, he said he’d tell them they should "come and talk to some of the participants. A lot of them probably wish they never agreed to undergo drug court. And a lot of them have given up because it’s too hard."

Vice President Joe Biden stressed the importance of drug courts and prisoner re-entry programs when he announced Kerlikowske’s position in March, saying they "can serve as the light at the end of the tunnel, of a very long, long dark tunnel, for those who are stuck in the cycle of drug addiction and incarceration."

Kerlikowske said he was committed to tackling the nation’s drug problem, but noted that it would take a "coordinated and multifaceted effort.""The success of our efforts to reduce the flow of drugs is largely dependent on our ability to reduce demand for them," Kerlikowske said, calling the nation’s drug problem one of "human suffering." "It requires prosecutors and law enforcement, courts, treatment providers and prevention programs to exchange information and to work together. And our priority should be a seamless, comprehensive approach," he said.

Obama vowed to beef up security along the border and to work to slow the flow of guns and drugs. He said the United States shares responsibility for the drug problem, saying "a demand for these drugs in the United States is what is helping to keep these cartels in business."

But he also tried to limit expectations that there could be any sort of quick fix."Now, are we going to eliminate all drug flows? Are we going to eliminate all guns coming over the border? That’s not a realistic objective," he said. "What is a realistic objective is to reduce it so significantly, so drastically that it becomes once again a localized criminal problem, as opposed to a major structural problem that threatens stability in communities along those borders."
Edit: You’re right Part Time Cynic, we didn’t. Sadly, some hard lessons take ages to learn.

I think it will just drive it underground. There is too much money involved in drugs to stop it happening. I think it should be controlled by the government and there by reduce the economical benefit that the drug lords currently thrive on. Its a bit like prohibition, it never stopped, it just went undergorund for a while.
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The war on drugs will continue as long as they make cheaper methods for everyone getting high. It is incredible to see what they would do for money.
Some of the responses here come from people who evidently are for drugs.
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There was a time when addicts when to the toilet, got a fix, then back to work no problem. Nobody knew, the job got done and everybody was happy. As jobs have gone overseas for cheap labour there is now only one way to afford the habit.
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If there was no demand, there would be no supply. A significant reduction would be a start, but I’m not sure how they could do that.
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