Opioid[1] and Amphetamine[2] over-prescription is certainly not rare. Anecdotally, I know plenty of people that got sent home with a bottle of hydrocodone after

Opioid[1] and Amphetamine[2] over-prescription is certainly not rare. Anecdotally, I know plenty of people that got sent home with a bottle of hydrocodone after dental surgery, which is not a rare case. There is an entire market based on prescribing these "highly controlled" substances to people who don't actually need them.[3][4][5] While long term use of opiates isn't in itself harmful, long term abuse carries a high risk of overdose due to tolerance. By "and/or affect a higher percentage of people", I mean that a higher percentage of people who take certain prescribed substances (like amphetamines or opioids) are at risk for addiction to those substances than those who drink alcohol.[6] Edit: All of which is ultimately irrelevant, as your argument was "Do you think the FDA would approve that pill? Do you think any sane doctor would prescribe that pill to his/her patients?" and we both seem to agree that pills that have fewer benefits and just as bad if not worse consequences that your hypothetical drug are both approved by the FDA and prescribed by doctors. [1] http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22786464 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22786464 [2] http://www.gwlr.org/2014/02/03/cohen-2/ http://www.gwlr.org/2014/02/03/cohen-2/ [3] http://www.northjersey.com/news/north-jersey-pill-mills-cashing-in-on-painkiller-addiction-1.749667 http://www.northjersey.com/news/north-jersey-pill-mills-cash... [4] http://www.tampabay.com/news/politics/stateroundup/after-pill-mill-crackdown-heroin-fills-a-void/2180122 http://www.tampabay.com/news/politics/stateroundup/after-pil... [5] http://fox8.com/2013/04/18/doctor-pleads-guilty-to-running-pill-mill/ http://fox8.com/2013/04/18/doctor-pleads-guilty-to-running-p... [6] http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Rational_scale_to_assess_the_harm_of_drugs_%28mean_physical_harm_and_mean_dependence%29.svg http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Rational_scale_to_ass...