Don't apologize - I found what you wrote fascinating as always. And you're disgustingly eloquent for an engineer :P

I see your point about the medical use of drugs and didn't mean to sound like those who take prescription drugs aren't "superior" in some way healthwise. I was trying to address the issue of prescription drug abuse, ex. buying ADHD meds when you don't have that condition so that you can pull an all nighter for a test you should've studied for earlier. There are many, many more issues when people don't take necessary prescriptions (though interaction effects can be pretty awful if you're not careful), and you probably know that medical noncompliance statistics are staggering.

I tend to veer to the overly cautious side re: pain medication after my neighbor was arrested for armed robbery trying to get more Vicodin from several local pharmacies. Intellectually I understand that his case is extreme and is more of a reflection of the failure of the government to provide for the medical and mental health needs of veterans, but it's something that's scared me deeply. I'm sure my views would be quite different if I had a condition where I experienced chronic pain and I had significant difficulty functioning without any sort of relief.