Addiction is a symptom of other underlying psychological or neurological problems, not a cause. Healthy people do not become addicts any more than healthy people run high fevers or vomit uncontrollably.<p>The underlying causes of addiction are medical, psychological, and social, and fixing those is the solution.<p>Criminal drug prohibition harms everyone. It harms non-addict drug users in an obvious way: by punishing them for a completely voluntary non-crime. It harms addicts by punishing them for having a psychological health problem that should be treated, and the follow-on effects of criminal prosecution further damage their lives (e.g. having a felony) which in turn causes them to be more likely to suffer from further addiction. Finally, it harms society by creating a massive off-the-books profit center for criminals that in turn increases crime and promotes corruption. (I call it the &quot;federal subsidy for organized crime.&quot;) It also wastes police resources that could otherwise be available for pursuing more pressing problems.<p>If drugs are legal, why would organized crime continue to be involved?