I've taken a very long time to fall asleep as long as I can remember.
So I have to give myself a larger window of time to sleep.
I start on my right side. Then that gets uncomfortable so I switch to my back. At this point I usually get itchy. After ages of scratching and eventually telling myself to stop I turn onto my side again.
Eventually after another turn cycle or two I settle down into sleep.
Unless I've had a busy day or am anticipating something the next day or am thinking about work or something.
Then it requires a whole lot of "No, think about something stupid," which will inevitably tangent back to whatever I was thinking about.
Some nights I eventually succeed with whatever I force myself to think about. Usually some theoretical situation based on a book I'm reading or a show I'm watching. "What if I was in starfleet..."
At some point I tried sleeping pills. They made it worse.
My father had the same problem with NyQuill - it'd keep him up.
I've risked addiction with several substances but have never gotten hooked.
As long as you make sure to only use the sleeping pills sparingly, and ideally not two nights in a row, it should be OK...
Caffeine and Alcohol are both highly addictive, so I don't think you've escaped anything in that spectrum. And the addiction to either can be dangerous for your health.
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