I disagree that this is either a good idea or effective. A better approach is to force people into rehab by enforcing existing laws then giving addicts a choice of go to rehab or go to jail. This is why the decriminlization moves (such as prop 42) are so counter productive and harmful.
Hey listen, decriminalizing drugs doesnt mean legalizing drugs.
When a junkie ends up in court it's because they've been arrested engaging in an addiction driven crime like theft. Or prostitution.
The reason why arresting people for using drugs isnt helpful is because many of those people would have already gotten help if they were not afraid of legal consequences of using the drugs. See what I'm saying?
So while I totally agree.... drug addicts given the choice between rehab and jail always chose rehab and that's a good thing because I have personally SEEN this work.. there are even MORE addicts who want help but are afraid to reach out due to legal consequences. (I know....it makes no sense because continuing in drug addiction guarantees legal consequences one way or another, but active addicts are messy thinkers stuck in a daily survival mode and are NOT thinking clearly)
And I'm too libertarian to think drugs should be illegal lol.
It's a legitimate health crisis. I know that's hard for "normies" to understand but it's a disorder. These are people who are suffering, either from untreated mental health issues or physical/medical issues or both. Mine started with pain relief from kidney stone disease and spiralled pretty quickly due to my untreated ptsd and the relief opiates gave me.
I fully believe we would do MUCH better altering our approach to drug use to reflect the health crisis it is.
We need more programs like the one I went through. Heroin addiction isnt cured in 3 weeks. People need long term therapy.....in a life skills setting. I walk this path and it's not an easy one, people need the tools to properly overcome this. Real recovery takes years. It's a whole mind/body/spirit recovery. The drug use itself is not the root problem....its the symptom. It's the manifestation of trauma and poor mental/emotional health. All compulsive self destructive thinking/behaviors are.
And the "incurable disease" model and maintenance meds are GARBAGE. Its total trash.
Btw.... I havent read the OP because I have the author on ignore so I have no idea if anything was "brillant" or not but I am addressing your post.