TIME AND TIME again as a Circuit Court judge, I was struck by the thousands of cases I handled in which promising lives were derailed by drug abuse. Yet addressing and preventing addiction - with a balanced approach of treatment and accountability - are absolutely critical to safeguarding our communities, fostering the renaissance of our neighborhoods and ensuring a prosperous future for us all.

While it might be tempting to say that addicts should "just say no" and pull themselves up by their bootstraps, decades of medical and social science research show that addiction is a progressive, chronic and multifaceted disease. A growing body of knowledge also demonstrates that it is treatable and preventable.

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