The U.S. is fighting a war that's costing billions of dollars every year with marginal results. Current strategies are not working. And in these painful economic times, the war must increasingly be fought with cost-effective, common-sense approaches to achieve success.

It's the war on drugs.

Since the 1980s, tough mandatory sentencing guidelines to combat epidemics of crack cocaine, ice and other drugs helped swell the nation's prison population to nearly 2.5 million inmates at a cost of $45 billion a year.

In Hawai'i, the inmate population has grown from 926 in 1980 to about 6,000 today. More than 2,000 are on the Mainland, at a cost of $50 million a year — still cheaper than keeping them at home.

But the cost of locking someone up — estimated at $24,000 per inmate per year —warrants a careful look at more prudent and cost-effective alternatives.

Fortunately, a sensible alternative is already being used in Hawai'i and is ripe for expansion: drug courts.

Every county has a version of the drug court system, which puts qualified nonviolent drug users through a program of intensive hands-on treatment, backed up by a judge who typically uses a program of swift punishments for missteps and rewards for positive progress to keep the offenders on track.

And it works. On O'ahu, 46 of the 49 clients who graduated in 2007 remained conviction-free more than a year later. Neighbor Island drug courts report similar high rates of success.

Those who at first blush seem so far beyond rehabilitation have successfully turned their lives around through the drug court system, says Michael Wilson, a Hawai'i drug court judge and proponent of the program.

To be sure, there are up-front costs. Drug courts require a tight web of treatment providers — counselors, psychiatrists, social workers —as well as treatment facilities to handle the tougher cases.

But given actual costs and success rates, it's still a better bargain than incarceration. The National Drug Court Institute puts the cost at between $1,500 and $11,000 per offender.

Of course, it's not just about money. Most graduates of drug court get their lives back. They become contributing members of society rather than a burden on it. That's where the real savings lie.

Developing useful alternatives to prison is becoming a trend. By the end of this year, the U.S. Sentencing Commission plans to amend its guidelines to persuade Congress to ease up on federal mandatory minimum-sentencing laws.

Hawai'i's policy-makers should support the trend. So should the private sector, which can support the program through its nonprofit support groups, such as Friends of Drug Court.

Clearly it's a sound investment. Rescuing someone from the horrors of drug abuse is not only the right thing to do for that individual, it has a collective societal benefit as well.