With crime and disease associated with drugs continuing to plague the world, Dealing With Drugs asks if the escalating "war on drugs" is doing more harm than good. This program examines the drug problems and policies of four major cities, finding inspiring success in the "harm reduction" policies of Amsterdam and Vancouver, and terrible failure in New York where addicts are jailed, needle exchange is illegal and transmission of disease is rampant. We hear from addicts, physicians, law enforcement officers and politicians, each with their own perspective. This program invites the viewer to suspend all preconceptions, strip off the labels "drug-addict" and "criminal", and try to understand that harmful drug use is often a symptom of complex social problems.