Tobacco companies literally add nicotine because it is addictive. Alcoholism destroys plenty of lives. Why do those substances, which are just as destructive, get a pass? Drugs aren't some addictive boogeyman that you were taught as a kid. There are plenty of people around you who do cocaine and you dont even know it. Key bumps happen in every bar bathroom across the country. Your server at a restaurant is probably on coke and you never noticed. If you've ever used a lawyer I can guarantee your lawyer is on coke. Your kids school teacher probably does coke on the occasional weekend. Your nurse or doctor definitely does it.

Drugs are everywhere, and if you know what signs to look for you will find it everywhere. You can see it if someone is really bad off on it, like Donald Trump Jr or Charlie sheen, but the vast majority of people who do it have no problem with it and can do it socially.

If you have an addiction, it isn't the substance that's causing it, its you trying to use that substance to cope with something else in your life. Sure, there are chemical dependencies that develop late in the addiction cycle for any substance, but the addiction started long before those chemical dependencies develop.

So is tobacco. The problem is that a "war" on something is a justification for excessive spending on opposing said thing.

Medical treatment and decriminalization has shown to be more effective than anything else for reducing the harm done by any substance, even tobacco, even cocaine.