The number of adult Americans caught up in the criminal justice system is an astonishing 6.6 million people, either imprisoned, on parole or on probation.

Equally astonishing is the fact that one-fourth of the prison population is incarcerated for nonviolent drug offenses -- a response that has failed to stem the drug problem and often increases the likelihood that a person will return to drug abuse and be rearrested.

Adding to the prison population is a sizable number of mentally ill inmates. They comprise 16 percent of inmate populations but only 5 percent of the general society. Prison stays for them tend to be longer, and, once released, they are more likely to return to prison.

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