In general, there has been a trend, at least in the more therapeutic segments of the industrial west, to attempt to make the world into a more or less realized version of Michelis (The Ticket of Leave Apostle) vision of a universal hospital.

Hence, the ever-growing restrictions on the sale, use, possession, etc., of devices and substances that were an accepted fact of life for people two or three generations ago.

Case in point:

Up until about 1920 one could walk down to post office and pick up a fully automatic thompson sub-machine gun, ordered by mail. With this package tucked under your arm, you could toddle down to the pharmacy for a bottle of laudanum, swing by the hardware store for a couple sticks of dynamite, and then stroll back home, all without breaking any laws.