Without removing the high profits within the drug industry, efforts to address drug abuse through criminal law, social pressure, treatment, and education remain ineffective. However, legalizing certain drugs would lead to an unacceptable increase in consumption. A more workable approach would be for the government to withdraw the most profitable clients from criminal suppliers by issuing non- psychotic drugs to addicts at no charge. Initially, addicts would be defined broadly to shrink the drug market quickly. Later, the government would narrow the definition of addiction. This approach would lead potential drug suppliers to expect financial losses and would therefore discourage them from entering the drug market. In the long run, this strategy would also force criminal enterprises to leave the drug market. For alcohol, taxation appears to be an adequate method of limiting misuse. Therefore, inequality before the law would not occur if alcohol and other drugs were handled in different ways. Footnotes