There are two reasons to care about addictive disorders: Those with disorders may be harming themselves and they may be harming others. Most agree that addictions are bad for society, but there is less agreement about how to mitigate the harms associated with addiction-especially when the government is involved.

Public policy on addictive disorders has been a subject of American debate for well over a century. Cigarettes and alcohol weren’t always legal, and cocaine and heroin used to be readily prescribed. Further, in one generation gambling went from being universally prohibited to universally accepted with state governments now promoting the activity. Were these changes for the better? Should these policies be revised or reconsidered? We do not attempt to answer these grand questions here;rather, we hope to provide insight about how to best assess and compare various government policies on addictive disorders.

This chapter focuses on the policies associated with addictions to drugs, gambling, food, and sex. While this is not a complete list of disorders, it does include those that seem to do the most damage to the addicted and to societ y. We describe the epidemiology and dynamics of these disorders and revie·w the strategies and tactical policies intended to affect them. These sections are infused with information from the fields of economics, psychology, public health, and criminal justice that is important to decision making about addictive disorders. We also offer frameworks for thinking about these policies and suggestions for new directions in addiction-related policy and research.