The idea that addiction is somehow a psychological illness is, I think, totally ridiculous. It's as psychological as malaria. It's a matter of exposure. People, generally speaking, will take any intoxicant or any drug that gives them a pleasant effect if it is available to them.

Burroughs Live: The Collected Interviews of William S. Burroughs, 1960-1997 (ed. Semiotext, 2001)