"People suffering from addiction are more effectively treated with health care services than with criminal punishments," the bill states.
There is no way the addict can overcome addiction without treatment for the addiction. I am not advocating treatment for traffickers or promoters of drugs. The choice is sending them to an effective drug recovery program or imprisoning addicts. If sent to prison they are going to return again and again.
If you live through the hell of an addicted child you will discover the heart can actually cause a physical pain when sorrowed so deeply. Many of these addicts are actually "hooked" on narcotics that are doctor prescribed. When these are withdrawn, the patient seeks any medication available. Heroin is actually cheap at first and so... Please don't misunderstand, I abhor drugs but many of us 'priviledged, white women have gone through the addiction experience with a beloved child. Would you really prefer prison over a cure for your own child? Or is prison just a choice for other people's children?
Drug court uses the best of both interventions: treatment backed up by the threat of incarceration for noncompliance.