Act 161, Session Laws 2002, added this section to require, among other things, that first-time nonviolent drug offenders be sentenced to undergo and complete drug treatment instead of incarceration. The legislature found that the link between substance abuse and crime is well-established. The legislature did not wish to diminish the seriousness of crime, but looked to approaching crime as being the result of addiction that is treatable. The treatment route was expected to produce a reduction in crime and recidivism. The legislature intended to promote treatment of nonviolent substance abuse offenders, rather than incarceration, as being in the best interests of the individual and the community at large. Conference Committee Report No. 96-02.

Inasmuch as the plain and unambiguous language of §706-606.5 requires application of the repeat offender statute over "any other law to the contrary", the circuit court did not err in sentencing defendant as a repeat offender pursuant to §706-606.5; in all cases in which §706-606.5 is applicable, including those in which a defendant would otherwise be eligible for probation under this section, the circuit courts must sentence defendants pursuant to the provisions of §706-606.5. 103 H. 228, 81 P.3d 408.

Defendants with prior felony convictions of drug offenses are disqualified from sentencing pursuant to this section, even if the convictions occurred in other jurisdictions and therefore not "under part IV of chapter 712", so long as the offenses would implicate part IV of chapter 712 if committed in Hawaii. 104 H. 71, 85 P.3d 178.