Canada/U.S....... are suppose to be "free" countries. Here we are in the year 2010 and governments are still telling us what we can put in our bodies and what we can't. In my opinion you should be able to walk into any pharmacy and purchase this stuff over the counter. If you screw yourself up...we'll that's your fault.

Personally that's the thing that really bothers me the most about the United States. It's the hypocrisy! They keep telling us how free we are and everytime I go to do something it's against the law!

"Fasten your seat belt"....."you have to wear a helmet"....."I'm sorry you can't have that pill unless you get a doctor's prescription".

I once wanted to try oxygen as a quick, natural energy boost. I figured if it works for the pro football players maybe it would work for me. I tried to acquire an oxygen tank but all the local vendors told me I needed a prescription from my doctor! Imagine that! You need a prescription for oxygen!

A buddy of mine was working on a laser device that goes into your nostrils so he could experiment with blood irradiation. He went to a medical supply store to purchase the tubing and nose piece that people use that are on oxygen. He was going to mount a laser on each of the prongs that goes in each nostril. They wouldn't sell him the tubing without a prescription! It's just a plastic tube for god's sake!

If the government wants to have laws like this fine....but stop telling me I live in a free country! That insults my intelligence and further pisses me off!

You could always move to the philippines like me   Here you can get pretty much anything non-narcotic without having a prescription.  Of course then you just have to put up with all the 3rd world bullshit...

What do you mean by 3rd world bullshit? Poverty? Crime?

Yes you can but that would just be the visit fee and wouldn't include whatever else you had done.  Same for doctors it's usually just $5-10.  Sometimes you get what you pay for though the quality of treatment isn't usually as good as what you would expect from living in the west.  As far as the BS I haven't really experienced any crime personally.  You see lots of poverty but i'm mainly referring to things just being different.  For example customer service here is just horrible compared to anywhere in the west.  The government is even more inefficient than ours, etc.  We have power outtages regularly (more than once a week) for an hour or two at a time because the infrastructure is so poor.  Of course some other 3rd world countries in asia have their shit together a lot more than the Philippines, but the philippines is the only one where engilsh is an official language and a lot of people speak it.  A lot of things are less expensive here but some things that are basic where we're from have to be imported so they are even more expensive than in the US.

On the other hand, I can walk into a pharmacy and ask for and get brand name avodart for about $35/month... an interesting difference as well is minoxidil here is 6%, not 5.  don't ask me why