Finding a way to treat people who can benefit from drug rehab will be an effective alternative for many reasons.As we spoke briefly about above, costs associated with treatment are much less than prison. Instead of locking up people who have a drug problem and making them dry out in prison, mandatory drug rehab may help those people build better lifestyle habits.Drug addiction is a disease that should not be punished by long sentences. Treatment can help these people to integrate into fully functioning and contributing individuals to society rather than becoming institutionalized.