So is the placebo effect hinging on a leap of faith, so to speak, or on a deception? You can't sell sugar tablets as sugar tablets and have anyone bother with them.

It'd be unethical, of course, for a doctor to present a prescription as one thing but secretly slip sugar pills into the bottle, but it'd probably work if the patient were no wiser in at least some cases, as you admit.

But that's not what's happening with Homeopathic remedies, is it? Do licensed doctors prescribe it, or is it merely available to people as a choice?

As I said elsewhere here, I don't see a problem with marketing the stuff as long as there is full disclosure that clinical trials disprove the efficacy of the stuff. People continue to smoke tobacco and drink alcohol even tho they actually DO harm, and we allow it because we believe in the freedom of adults to choose their own poisons.

Some people will accept that it's just water, some will continue to use it anyway. As homeopathic remedies can do no further harm in themselves, I say let it go. If people believe in it, and it works for them, and they don't mind forking over big bucks for a tiny vial of H20, let 'em.