Maybe it makes sense to wage war against the suppliers of illegal drugs at their source, but it's foolhardy for officials in this country to put greater emphasis on stemming supply than reducing demand. Without the demand for illegal drugs, there would be no need for a supply of dope. You don't reduce demand by jailing drug users. There are few effective drug rehabilitation programs in prisons. Putting non-violent drug offenders in jail does not stem drug use.
Drugs are easily accessible in many jails.
All incarceration does is treat habitual drug users as criminals, rather than as the sick people they are. They should be remanded to a drug abuse treatment center, not a penal system. Colombia's drug war rages because the appetite of this nation's drug users has remained the same for years. If the Clinton administration wants to help defeat drug traffickers there, it must step up its efforts to reduce the demand for drugs here. The best way to reduce drug consumption in this country, and defeat Colombia's narco-traffickers, is to put more money into drug treatment programs, not the purchase of helicopter gunships.