>* Medicine -> medication --- a softening (a nominalization of a denominalization, at that!). Down with medication! I think the extra layer adds a shade of mea

>* Medicine -> medication --- a softening (a nominalization of a denominalization, at that!). Down with medication! I think the extra layer adds a shade of meaning here. Medication is something you take because a health professional wants to medicate you with it. Medicine is just anything that might make you better. That's why we still talk about "natural medicine" or "alternative medicine" rather than "alternative medication". So in semantic terms this is actually an instance of strengthening. All medication is medicine but not necessarily vice versa. It probably just reflects the overall uptick in people taking pills prescribed by their doctors rather than Daffy's Elixir.