Damian John Quinton, 47, faced court on Thursday for six sets of offending committed over the past three years, including one time when police found him with almost five times the traffickable amount of heroin.

Police prosecutor Leading Senior Constable Steve Kent said police found 14.33 grams of heroin wrapped in foil behind a sofa cushion at Quinton's Redan property in January 2022 while executing a search warrant.

The court heard a notebook found in the room where he slept contained a list of names with amounts of money written beside, with a set of digital scales nearby.

There were pieces of foil in the kitchen cut into size for packaging drugs, similar to the foil wrapping for heroin found behind the sofa cushion.

Quinton was arrested after he admitted the heroin belonged to him and said he purchased the 14.33 grams of heroin for $1000 for personal use.

The court heard Quinton was also found with a traffickable quantity of heroin in September 2020 after police intercepted a car he was a passenger in around the St Albans area.

Police officers found a bag containing 7.66 grams of heroin, a flick knife and $1195 in cash suspected to be the proceeds of drug trafficking while conducting a pat down search.

Scales were also found near where Quinton was sitting in the car and he had methamphetamine and ecstasy in his wallet.

Other offending related to driving while unlicensed three times from 2019 to 2021, drug driving in Ballarat in October 2021 and threatening to steal his neighbour's car while holding an angle grinder.

Defence lawyer Joseph Adamo said Quinton had a long-standing drug addiction and he was motivated to sell drugs to fund his own habit.

He said Quinton's drug use increased after he was diagnosed with cancer.

"To put it simply Your Honour, this is a man who has made poor decisions in his life," Mr Adamo said.

"He clearly needs some intervention."

Magistrate Ron Saines said the Drug Court was a possible option for Quinton that could provide a 'far more intensive' drug rehabilitation program than any other court program like a community corrections order.

He said Drug and Alcohol Treatment Orders imposed through the Drug Court provided a strict drug treatment regime and punishment for any breaches and Quinton could possibly be eligible for this type of order.

Quinton may decide he wants to be assessed for suitability for the Drug Court. If not, he will be sentenced before Mr Saines later in June.

Quinton pleaded guilty to 18 charges at the Ballarat Magistrates' Court on Wednesday.

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