The war on drugs has persisted for nearly a century, yet cases of addiction, overdose, and child drug abuse have sharply risen with every harsh crackdown from the government. While the war on drugs has long had bipartisan support, more people than ever are questioning this approach to addiction in the wake of the United States’ opioid epidemic. Marijuana has recently been legalized in many states with many other states decriminalizing the drug and notably the state of Oregon decriminalized all drugs. So far, none of these states have seen deluges of new addiction, overdose, or child drug use cases since these policy changes, as prohibitionist policy advocates would predict. Unfortunately, drugs and addiction have touched most families in the United States in one way or another - but this fact only serves to illustrate the importance of looking at new, potentially more effective approaches to this pressing issue.