But - he's not advocating getting rid of the prescription system. Prescription drugs are STILL illegal without a prescription.
He's only talking about making it possible - for example - for you to get drugs for your Mom (who the doc KNEW was very ill) without having to get her out of bed and drive her in to be "seen" - when he only saw her a week ago.
Right now - when I need meds for my back, the doc cannot give them to me even tho he has seen my medical reports and *knows* I need it. He would lose his license if he did. Instead, when I cannot get off the floor of my house for a couple of weeks at a time, I have to "go in" to be "seen." (I cannot do it - so I have no Rx pain relief when my pain is at its worst). This is because of RECENT changes in the law. When my back problems first started, the doc was willing to just call in an RX on request - something that was actually done less than once a year - not abusively.
The theory is that if *I* am in pain for weeks and cannot move off the floor of my house - or if your Mom had no palliative treatment when she was very ill - that somehow that helps keep someone else somewhere from abusing opioids.
I *think* that's the point this guy is trying to make. Not that they should be all over the counter, or handed out for free on the street corner
ETA: Opioids have a beneficial use. Abortions do not. Which hurts that analogy