It is no longer seriously debated that the war on drugs,and the criminal treatment of those who illegally use drugs, has failed its purposes. It has neither significantly curtailed such drug use, nor diminished the dealing and often violent trafficking in those drugs. In some states, such as California, drug diversion programs have been adopted in the attempt to provide both more humane and more effective treatment of drug users. In these proceedings the judge sends the arrestee who has not committed a crime other than the drug use to a treatment center or 12- step program rather than to jail. These methods have saved taxpayer money and resulted in successful treatment, but only to a very limited extent. Despite the efforts of all the federal and state law enforcement agencies, courts and prisons, the usage of drugs and the incidence of drug addiction has not significantly abated and a great deal of data suggest the problem has only grown worse. I would like to see adoption of a different paradigm - one which treats drug use, abuse and addiction as health issues rather than crminal law issues, and a system in which adults would be permitted to purchase drugs produced by licensed manufacturers, in a controlled channel of distribution, set on a state by state basis, with users committed to regular contact with trained monitors whose role would be to spot and try to ameiliorate abuse and overdose problems. I am looking for criticisms of and ideas for implementing such a system.