Seattle police are trying to change the way they deal with open-air drug dealing. The East Precinct is considering a pilot program called "Drug Market Initiative," which offers a new approach to eliminating chronic drug dealing.

Instead of reacting to arrests, low-level drug dealers will be confronted and pressured to stop. Prison won't be automatic if the person accepts drug treatment, job training or other services.

Police say for this program to be effective, neighbors need to be engaged.

"And the community itself says, 'We want you to stop this behavior. And as a sign of good faith, we'll offer you services and support at the community level, but you have to stop your street level drug dealing,'" said Capt.Paul McDonagh.

This is long overdue. Many if not most street dealers sell drugs to maintain their habits; more than jail, they need a way to get clean and get off the street. But in 2008, the Seattle Police Department booked 2,957 people into the King County jail primarily for drug offenses, making drug offenders 10 percent of the overall jail population, according to findings of a jail capacity study being conducted by the city council. Seattle and nearby cities are grappling with whether we need to build a new jail—at costs ranging past $200 million—but if we can stop filling the jail we're using (with people who don't need to be there), we won't need to build a new one.

"We're at a time when the national Drug Czar and Secretary of State have acknowledged that focusing on the drug problem primarily as a criminal matter is a failed strategy," says Alison Holcomb, a member of the jail study group and drug policy director of the ACLU of Washington. "Taking a closer look at the reasons why people use drugs and get involved in the illegal drug market could lead us to smarter, more effective and more cost-efficient solutions." Indeed.