•      "Drug courts have not demonstrated cost savings, reduced incarceration, or improved public safety...Many people end up in a drug court because of a petty drug law violation, including marijuana. As a result, drug courts do not typically divert people from lengthy prison terms. The widespread use of incarceration - for failing a drug test, missing an appointment, or being a "knucklehead" - means that some drug court participants end up incarcerated for more time than if they had been conventionally sentenced in the first place...Drug courts leave many people worse off for trying...Not only will some drug court participants spend more days in jail while in drug court than if they had been conventionally sentenced, but participants deemed "failures" may actually face longer sentences than those who did not enter drug court in the first place (often because they lost the opportunity to plead to a lesser charge)...Drug courts have made the criminal justice system more punitive toward addiction - not less." Source: Drug Policy Alliance 

•      "Drug treatment courts, or drug courts, are meant to offer court-supervised treatment for drug dependence to people who would otherwise go to prison for a drug-related offence. Evidence shows, however, that in many States these courts have not achieved their intended results, have failed to conform to a public health approach, and do not tackle mistreatment and human rights violations that occur in treatment centres…While drug courts offer "treatment instead of incarceration", they are not health-care settings and cannot provide treatment; rather, they refer participants to treatment, the experts said. Evidence shows that in many jurisdictions, drug courts have failed to offer participants evidence-based treatment. Largely, judges have no oversight over what happens in treatment, and cannot assess the quality of services. Drug court operators are not trained medical personnel and often intervene inappropriately in medical decisions, also without oversight or accountability." Source: United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime