> Driving is regulated just like prescription drugs.

No it isn't, I don't have to go renew my license every third time I fill my tank. If long term prescription came with unlimited refills that didn't require more trips to the doc, I wouldn't be complaining.

> It is the government’s job to protect people.

From other people, and from outside invaders. Situations where there is a victim. It is not the governments job to protect me from myself, I cannot be my own victim. Well, this is how it should be in a free country, something we clearly aren't anymore.

> Mixing the drugs people take for fun, with drugs people take for their heath is a straw man argument.

Drugs are drugs, and what you call recreational drugs many of its users would absolutely say they take for their health, both mental and physical. It's not a strawman, you just don't like it. The fact is how the drug is classified is irrelevant to the issue of who owns my body and gets to say what does or doesn't go into it?

> Total heath care costs in this country have little to do with how doctors prescribe drugs.

It's one of many factors, I didn't say it was the biggest.

> Changing how that works on a fundamental level is a high risk change for little payoff.

Gaining the freedom to control your own body and not have a government decide for you is not a little payoff, freedom is worth any price.