Don't forget pharmacy chains use a mathematic naive formula to stop selling opioids. As seen in HN a few months ago, if one kind HNer can add the link here.
Government leaders do not want to clearly define the rules, but still want to pin the problem on others. If the government makes the rules clear, and the policies result in failure, then they get blamed.
If the government outsources the policing, then the government leaders can point fingers and satisfy public outrage, at the expense of the affected public which is not politically powerful enough to do anything about it.