Substance use is among the leading conditions that impact on health, people and societies. Furthermore, there has not been so far an effective way of tackling the different individual and societal, financial and health related problems that substance addiction seems to bring about, be it for alcohol, tobacco, or illegal substances. These issues have not, however, gone by unnoticed. There is a vast amount of money, time and skill consumed to research to prevent and govern substance use and disorders. For some reason, it does not seem to produce the desired effects and results. The Ethics of Addiction Research is a symposium that discusses the ethical, legal, and social issues concerning this observation. There is still disagreement, for instance, what causes addiction. This scientific problem has effects on the ways in which prevention is applied in societies. The ways in which substance users are treated is also an issue that involves a great variety. None of the ways of treatment seems to offer an effective way of tackling the problem individuals face on a larger scale. The symposium focuses on the ethics of addiction research. Are the research agendas of individual researchers, institutions, pharmaceutical companies so flawed that we are actually looking for answers to questions that are not the right questions in tackling the problems? Is there a tunnel vision of addiction? Does the policy-making rest on assumptions that promote prejudices and do not question their scientific or conceptual validity? The project brings together researchers, policy-makers, representatives of funding bodies and organizations such as the World Health Organization to discuss the ethical, legal and social issues concerning addiction research. The symposium is a multidisciplinary project.