Absolutely, and this is why I talked about harm reduction as a drug policy in my parent comment. The thing about addicts is that they will do anything to get their next hit - someone who does not have a heroin habit just has no idea of the strength of the drive to obtain more. As mentioned, drugs are available in prisons. One thing that would make most addict's lives easier and less chaotic would be the ability to obtain their drug of choice without fear of prison; essentially decriminalisation of personal use quantities. I don't think we're ready for legalisation, or prescription of drugs, but it is not considered a bad thing by most drug treatment professionals.

Why doesn't it work? One argument is to say it hasn't historical worked well in the USA, but it might be interesting to actually figure out the reason .

In other places it has for example opiate use in China is 5x less than in the US.

Have you got data that supports the 5x difference of opiate use being solely a criminal justice victory?

Seems like there are many reasons why that might be true.

19th century China was synonymous with opiate use, then they shot everybody. I'm not sure this is the approach America should take, but I am consistent shocked by the wide availability of hard drugs in the USA - and frankly a culture that tolerate their use.