You don't ban cars because people can drive them off cliffs

You don't ban pencils because people can shove them in their eyes. You don't ban swimming pools because the neighbor's kid might climb the fence and drown. You don't ban gasoline because it's poisonous if ingested. That would be ridiculous: It's the responsibility of pencil owners not to maim themselves with their writing instruments, of nonswimmers not to trespass and give their neighbors' pools a try ("attractive nuisance" litigation be damned), of gasoline buyers to use the product to fuel machines, not their bodies. It's not the responsibility of the government to stop people from misusing a product in a self-destructive way.

Not so, according to the FDA. There's talk of banning Vicodin and Percocet, two acetaminophen-containing painkillers, and tightening restrictions on over-the-counter sales of acetaminophen, because the drug can cause liver damage at higher-than-recommended doses.

Never mind that the vast majority of people who take acetaminophen have done so safely. Never mind that the risk of liver damage has been known for a long time, not hidden by the companies who manufacture the drug, and patients can therefore make informed choices. Never mind, most of all, that individuals have a right to do anything they please that does not violate the rights of others. That includes overdosing on Vicodin -- or on Tylenol.

The FDA's rationale with Vicodin and Percocet in particular is that the narcotic components of those drugs are highly addictive, and combining an addictive substance with another drug that is toxic at high doses is asking for trouble. Indeed it may be, but that is for patients and their doctors to decide. An addict violates no one else's rights simply by being an addict -- nor does he violate anyone else's rights if his addiction leads to an overdose and then to liver failure. It is not Big Brother's job to steer him to the straight and narrow!

To all those who suffer from severe pain who do not abuse the drugs they are prescribed, pay attention and get angry. What the government is telling you is that relieving your pain is less important than preventing others who aren't as careful about their prescriptions as you are from self-destructing.