The physician stated in his testimony that heroin addition should be considered as a disease that has to be treated. According to him, a drug-dependent person who has developed a strong dependency on heroin has a 97 percent chance of relapsing where traditional detoxification methods are used. The Judgment Tailoring the sentence to the individual case is a basic principle to which all judges must adhere. What is more, a balance must be maintained between protecting the public interest, deterrence, and social reintegration. Lamer J stated in the Lebovitch case that where a heroin addict has already made adequate and satisfactory efforts to detoxify, the courts should encourage the continuation of such efforts, in particular by showing clemency in sentencing.
Motivation is without doubt the most important criterion.
MMT with psychosocial monitoring requires sustained effort on the part of the subject. The mere fear of imprisonment is certainly a strong source of motivation but is not in itself sufficient. Drug-dependent people must feel a real will to overcome their dependency on opioids. The MMPI test is well-recognized by the courts. Mr Povilaitis's test results showed that he was strongly motivated.