He was a public defender in Alameda County 1974-77, and a private criminal defense lawyer until his appointment to the bench in 1985. He was interviewed in his Alexandria, Virginia office by Indigent Defense Editor Scott Wallace. I came face to face with people with very serious problems including drug addiction, and learning about how people struggle to deal with them sensitized me to these issues, and made me want to work differently with this kind of population.
Drug courts work probably for the defense bar much better than they work for anyone.
But I would suggest that the program you get depends on the work you put into it. Drug courts can have different structures. They can deal with first-time offenders or they can deal with recidivists. They can deal with offenders who are also sellers. Those decisions are made typically by advisory committees.