Plans by the new National Drugs Control Department to introduce a segregated drugs rehabilitation facility at Westgate Correctional Facility should be given the highest possible priority.

The proposal, contained in the drugs control strategy being led by Community and Social Rehabilitation Minister Dale Butler, is a crucial first step for Bermuda to finally get to grips with the Island's drugs problem.

It is no secret that much of the crime committed on the Island is drugs related, and it is well documented that more than half of Westgate's inmates have used drugs prior to incarceration.

The report also shows that the rate of recidivism remains stubbornly high at around 80 percent, according to the statistics contained in the strategy.

So it does not require a huge intellectual leap to see that if inmates can be weaned off drugs while they are incarcerated, then they stand a much better chance of re-entering society and not returning to Westgate.

That's not to say that it is the only solution. It is notoriously difficult for ex-inmates to get jobs and housing on their release and a support system that will keep them on the straight and narrow ¿ with regular drug tests to ensure they are staying clean as a condition of support ¿ is essential.

But ex-prisoners will be much less likely to re-offend if they stay clean, and it will also improve their chances of getting and keeping a job, which in turn will reduce the chances of their re-offending.

It needs to be emphasised that this is only one part of the strategy. More needs to be done on drugs interdiction and arresting and prosecuting those who fund the drugs trade, and much more needs to be done to provide rehabilitation services, either in Bermuda or abroad, to those who need them, along with post-treatment support.

Again, none of this is rocket science, and all of it has been said before. The Drugs Control Department says an increase in spending from the current $15 million to $19 million per year is needed to truly address the problems of cutting drugs demand.

In the Budget, some $1.4 million was added to the prevention and treatment support, but there should be a commitment that as proven programmes expand or are introduced, that this amount needs to be increased.

The public also has a role to play in this. The collapse of the arrangement between the Council Partners and the various drugs prevention and rehabilitation agencies and the then-National Drug Commission left a gap in credibility and finances for drugs treatment.

Treatment should not solely be a Government responsibility; the whole community needs to join in it. So Mr. Butler needs to use his credibility and position to restore confidence in rehabilitation services so that the private sector will again have the confidence to give its support, both financial and otherwise.

The millions of dollars being discussed for this may seem like a large amount of money, and it is. But the financial costs of drug addiction dwarf it, while the human cost is incalculable.

On that basis, Bermuda could arguably double the amount it spends on drug prevention and rehabilitation and it would still be worth it. It may not take that much, but investing in proven, credible treatment programmes and effective public awareness campaigns can make a difference.

That does not mean it will be busy; not even the best treatment programmes in the world boasts a 100 percent success rate, or anything even close to it. But if you don't try, you have no chance of success.