Addicts are people who can recover. They aren't lost causes. They don't want to be drug free because they are physically or mentally (or both) addicted to the effects of a drug. They do, however, want long-term solutions- do you think an addict wants to be couch-surfing and going through life from high to high with no possibility of long-term existence?
They may have started using as a coping mechanism for sexual assault or to try and self-medicate for PTSD or an underlying condition. They need psychological help and long-term therapy.
I mentioned this in the other thread- Portugal decriminalized drug usage and what happened? Drug-related deaths fell, drug-related incarceration fell, and rates of drug use are consistently below the EU average. Yes, the rate of high-risk opioid users is higher than the European average, but it's lower than prior to decriminalization. HIV diagnoses plummeted and are still low. Health spending dropped. Social costs dropped.
https://transformdrugs.org/blog/drug...ecord-straight
https://drugpolicy.org/sites/default...approach_0.pdf
Want to get people help? Stop sending them to jail. Start treating them like people who have an addiction, rather than like criminals.
I'm surprised your solution isn't "send them to the Central Valley and to the Imperial Valley to replace illegal immigrants."