In May, Myers was arrested after police said they saw him making a purchase and found a few pills in his pocket. With a decades-long record of drug cases and other convictions, he would never have qualified for other diversion programs. Instead, he would have expected a couple of years’ probation. He was already in a treatment and job readiness program at the time of his arrest, he said. “This is better — much better" than the old way of doing things, he said. "They give you another chance to get it right.”