Years ago, Bridgeport attorney Sylvester Salcedo visited Frankfurt, Germany, one of many stops on a quest to understand how other countries tackled the war on drugs.

He carried with him a crumpled-up piece of paper with an address. When he found the building, known as a consumption center, it looked unassuming: a brick-and-mortar structure with a bed of flowers in the front yard. As Salcedo chatted with social workers, a slender, well-dressed woman with a briefcase walked in. She was a big-time banker. And she was addicted to heroin.