Court-mandated substance abuse treatment uses extrinsic motivators to enforce treatment engagement and compliance, with the underlying premise that personal choice may be important but not essential to treatment success. Proponents of compulsory treatment cite the high relapse rates found in voluntary treatment programs, increases in addiction and drug-related crime rates, and the high economic, health, and emotional cost of illicit drug use to support legal enforcement of substance abuse treatment. Research also supports the use of social control strategies as intrinsic motivation is not universally sufficient to encourage treatment engagement or sustain treatment involvement long enough to result in posttreatment behavior change. Alternatively, opponents of compulsory treatment assert that forced treatment violates U.S. beliefs in individualism and personal choice.

The U.S. legal system, business employers, families, ...