The predominantly law enforcement approach to the drug problem during the past 25 years has been costly, has not significantly reduced drug traffic and has imprisoned relatively few major drug dealers. A more rational and less expensive approach would involve alternatives to long-term incarceration, such as community service, supervised probation, parole and treatment. Stiff mandatory sentences are aimed at deterrence on the one hand and politically aimed at judges on the other, transferring much power from judges to prosecutors. An unintended result of these mandatory sentences is the release of violent felons from overcrowded prisons because they do not have mandatory sentence minimums and are eligible for parole, when nonviolent drug felons are not. A coordinated approach involving specialists in all aspects of the drug problem and computerized information and statistics would have better prospects for success.