And Now, Back in the Real World... (cover story)

This article reports on drug use in the United States and new programs to move nonviolent drug offenders out of prisons and into treatment programs. Since the war on drugs began in 1971, drug addicts have often been treated as criminals and subsequently incarcerated rather than treated. The article discusses the use of drug courts as a way that crime rates have been improved, but also notes that the treatment programs associated with them need to be improved, possibly through new drug research.