There's a drug store chain near me that has a sign, if you need formula and can't afford it, they'll let you have their brand generic formulas for free. You just bring it up to the desk, let them know and they'll scan it and give it to you.
We got lucky that my wife happened to be SAH and able to breastfeed. We know people who had issues breastfeeding and were really stressed about finding and paying for formula.
That isn't a sign of collapse. That just shows that the average retailer would let a baby starve than lose a dime. Its a reflection of the morality that these people have. But of course they never examine themselves deep enough to have that realisation.
The devil's advocate in me says that dealers often cut drugs with formula so there's at least one other reason to keep it locked, but I don't know how well that statement holds up under scrutiny, because it's not like they check to see if you actually have a baby when you buy formula, and it's probably not worth the risk to steal it as opposed to just buying it with the kind of return you'd get from diluting your product.
And yeah, I see razor blades, shampoo, and fucking laundry soap under lock and key in stores all the time. Nobody's cutting drugs with any of those. Shit's getting real fucked up.
It's not an either-or situation. Something like baby formula is only added as a filter. Fentanyl is far too potent to use as a filler. It's added to other drugs to give a better high so users are less likely to realize they're not getting what they paid for.
I've heard the baby formula drug thing before, but I find it hard to believe you can't mix it with something cheaper like regular powdered milk or flour.
A lot of this stuff is easily resellable down your local flat-roofed pub, and there's practically no punishment for shoplifting.
I asked at Safeway and the guy told me it's because people steal it and then try to return it for cash, not so much for starving babies. Same with the name brand laundry detergent that is now in a cage.
In the US, we have WIC (nutrition assistance for pregnant women, infants and children under 5) that covers formula for parents whose income is less than 185% of the federal poverty level. That does mean that parents who fall over the benefits cliff (make 186% of the fed poverty level) are seriously fucked.