America has a problem with drugs. To be more specific, the way America’s justice system deals with individuals who have drug addictions is problematic. It is also expensive, as well as ineffective. Instead of increasing state and federal budgets to accommodate for the growth in the prison population, which is largely due to America’s imprisonment over treatment policies, this country needs to focus on the root issues that cause drug addiction.

Despite dumping millions of dollars into anti-drug campaigns in the 1980s, the American government has seen an increase in the number of individuals imprisoned for drug possession. According to a study by the Sentencing Project and Human Rights Watch, the arrests for drug-related crimes increased by nearly 500,000 in a two-year period. In 1980, when the country was first told to "just say no," less than 600,000 people were arrested for drug possession. The increase in drug arrests can be directly attributed to America’s War-on-drugs policies. Drug dealers, however, aren’t the ones being punished. More than four-fifths of those arrested on drug-related charges are arrested for possession. And four in 10 of THOSE arrests are for marijuana possession. Instead of getting much needed treatment, they are sent to jail.

Under the current system, no one wins. State and federal budgets are maxed as they work to fund existing jails, plus build new jails and prisons to house these mostly low-level drug offenders. Those imprisoned don’t receive comprehensive care that helps them deal with the issues that drove them to drugs in the first place. Many, upon release, return to their former lifestyle and end up in jail again. Taxpayers lose because their dollars fund this vicious, ineffective cycle.

Those tax dollars be much better sent on improving education for young people -- keeping kids off the street helps keep them away from drugs -- and creating drug centers for those individuals arrested for simple possession. Those arrested for possession should be ordered to treatment and post-treatment, monitored for a set amount of time. Only after repeat offenses should jail even become an option for some drug users.

With access to intensive psychological and drug counseling, these men and women have an opportunity to turn their lives around for good. Emphasizing treatment over imprisonment will not only save taxpayer dollars. It will save lives.