“We used to have insane asylums where the mentally ill were confined and they tried to help them. Whatever happened to them? Why are the mentally ill wandering the streets?”
The pharmaceutical companies convinced lawmakers that drugs could medicate mentally ill people to the point they could function in society.
State and municipal governments rejoiced in the cost savings of being able to shut down the funny farms.
The rest is history. Sadly that history is being written today.
A powerful lobby. They also convinced a lot of fools that birth control pills would prevent the great majority of unwanted pregancies. Look how that turned out, millions of abortions and illegitmate children later.