[specialist]

Deregulated (or decriminalized) doesn't mean unguided, untracked.

Why should antibiotics be treated any differently than psychoactives? And how could empowering individuals, accepting mistakes will be made, be any worse than our (USA) current system? We currently have people self-medicating with supplies from pet stores and veterinarians.

Actually, thinking about it, to your point, poor compliance is because of barriers to care. Making it easier to receive care will improve outcomes.

The most successful efforts replace enforcement (of controlled substances) with treatment, counseling. Imagine if all drugs could be bought at your local pharmacy, where customers can be advised, counseled.

My pharmacist is just a pill pushing bookkeeper. I'll have to ask her if she'd like to use her degree, training, experience for actually helping people, rather than just checking eligibility and collecting copays.