Acetaminophen we can still get, it's only when it is part of an over-the-counter cold remedy, such as Nyquil, that they are trying to remove it. I
I haven't taken Nyquil in ages, and usually prefer Aspirin to Acetaminophen, but thanks, anyway.
The point is, people won't read labels and assume that over-the-counter medicines are safe in any quantity. The Nanny's in the government, at all levels, therefore assume that they have some responsibility to keep them safe by restricting everyone's access to over-the-counter medicines.
Being a freedom-loving Missourian, I've always reckoned people the right to kill themselves with drugs, if they want. Whether it's meth or acetaminophen, it makes no difference. The government is not our baby sitter.
However, I think the physicians and the pharmacies are behind the effort to make many of these prescription-only. The physicians stand to profit from it. The pharmacists reasoning is understandable: if they are required to keep them under-the-counter, record the sales, and maintain a running tally of who buys it: making it prescription will relieve them of the paperwork burden. Physician's will be responsible for determining suitability, prescribing quantities, and tracking patients' usage.
For we, the consumers, however, it simply means is that we'll be paying more for the drugs.
Meth, of course, came into being because the government cracked down on the drug 'speed'. As a result of that crackdown, a substitute was born, apparently more lethal than the dangerous drug it replaced. When meth becomes similarly difficult to acquire/manufacture, another will take its place, and the government will begin curtailing more product access in their efforts to make it unavailable.
