Re: a recurring theme ... was that the three laws didn't really work all that well
You're saying Holmes didn't have an cocaine addiction and House didn't similarly have an addiction to Vicodin?
Asimov of course wasn't addicted to any chemical that we know of, and was in favour of clean living. Sadly he died of diseases associated with AIDS after he contracted HIV - something he was told to keep quiet about due to prejudice at the time.