Criminal justice clients are a considerable portion of clientele who take part in alcohol and drug treatment programs in Trinidad and in the USA. Judges in the country often find it more effective to treat men and women who have wound up in the criminal justice system for drug related crimes, instead of punishing them to no avail with time in jail and other penalties. It has proven more effective to deal with the trouble of addiction directly, rather than enforce these sorts of penalties. Most who do not end up in alcohol and drug rehabilitation will frequently turn right back up in the criminal justice hamster wheel, whilst criminal justice clients in alcohol and drug treatment often don't fall back into drug use and have a better chance at remaining abstinent and away from the court system for good.