The unavailability of psychotropic and analgesic drugs for medical purposes results in suffering that goes unrelieved. Their excessive availability results in overmedication and suffering of a different kind. Aims To highlight the discrepancies between the demand for and supply of controlled drugs for licit purposes by different communities, and to promote their rational utilisation.
International Centre for Addiction Studies, Department of Addictive Behaviour and Psychological Medicine, St George's Hospital Medical School, Cranmer Terrace, London SW17 0RE, UK.