Forums / Discussion / Serious Debate

I'd like to know the general opinion this community has on crimes of vice; gambling, prostitution, drug use, and alcohol.

It is in my opinion that most of crimes of vice should be gotten rid off in their entirety.

What the hell is a "crime of vice"? Gambling and alcohol are perfectly legal so they don't count as crimes as all. Personally, I've always subscribed to the "It should only be illegal if it harms or negatively affects others against their will" Gambling is perfectly fine as long as the people running it aren't trying to fuck their patrons over, personally I don't think prostitution should be illegal seeing how it's just consenting sex with a price, and drug use is far too complicated to put under one unified opinion.

^ Some people feel like gambling (and F2P games according to the site comments) should be much more heavily regulated because they prey on mentally weak people. Someone in the site comments told me app developers should code a daily spending limit into their games that everybody has to adhere to because they're predatory and the people that play them are depressed and socially isolated and can't help themselves, and developers have an obligation to take responsibility for that since the government wont step in unless it's to save teh chilrenz.

I live where whorehouses are legal (welcome to NV Lamar Odom!) and have no real issue with it, but I think they're part of why the cops here have to do regular crackdowns on the pimps and hos that flock here to catch customers too cheap to pay the brothel. There's pretty rampant involuntary sex slavery stuff going on here but that's not the brothel's fault, and like I said, the cops here make a habit of undercover busting street hos because they're usually like 17 years old and addicted to heroin.

If a regulatory agency would sort drugs into a legitimate system of classification by how dangerous you become to society on them, we could probably legalize a few drugs, and possibly eradicate some others. Like, does PCP even have a purpose at all? Besides extremely literally turning people into the Hulk?

Maybe we can expand the OP to "victimless crimes". Like recreational drugs, not wearing your seat belt, skateboarding in public, and things like the right to die controversy.

Crimes of Vice are: Activities that are made illegal because they offend the moral standards of the community banning them. Gambling, pornography, and prostitution are the big three of vice crimes in most states and communities.
http://www.yourdictionary.com/vice-crimes

I include alcohol because at one point it was illegal in the US, and there are still a lot of local counties that refuse to sell alcohol outright or during certain days.

Gambling is only legal in small forms in some states, but most gambling is illegal except in places like Nevada.

" I don’t think prostitution should be illegal seeing how it’s just consenting sex with a price, and drug use is far too complicated to put under one unified opinion." Same here, which is why I said "most" crimes of vice.

"Some people feel like gambling (and F2P games according to the site comments) should be much more heavily regulated because they prey on mentally weak people. Someone in the site comments told me app developers should code a daily spending limit into their games that everybody has to adhere to because they’re predatory and the people that play them are depressed and socially isolated and can’t help themselves, and developers have an obligation to take responsibility for that since the government wont step in unless it’s to save teh chilrenz." Yep, I was right there reading it. Some people very much like to shift self responsibility from the individuals themselves to external forces. And others still very much like to just control how other people spend their money, or at least feel that they know better and should use authority to enforce it.

"Maybe we can expand the OP to “victimless crimes”. Like recreational drugs, not wearing your seat belt, skateboarding in public, and things like the right to die controversy."

Absolutely.

I'm not gonna elaborate too much because I'm heading out the door, but I do indeed think that gambling (yes, there are tons of very restrictive laws relating to that in many states across the country) and prostitution should be legal and rationally regulated. Drugs I'm a little more iffy on, though pot is a no-doubter.
However, though it's only been brought up in passing, I'd just like to shoot this one down: Seat belt requirements do not fall into this category at all. Getting into a major crash without one can very easily turn you into a human projectile, and needless to say, the danger gets extended beyond just yourself in that situation.

^ Some people feel like gambling (and F2P games according to the site comments) should be much more heavily regulated because they prey on mentally weak people. Someone in the site comments told me app developers should code a daily spending limit into their games that everybody has to adhere to because they’re predatory and the people that play them are depressed and socially isolated and can’t help themselves, and developers have an obligation to take responsibility for that since the government wont step in unless it’s to save teh chilrenz.

This is what I mean by "so long as the people running it aren't trying to screw people over" People running the gambling business should be regulated to make sure they aren't exploiting people out of their money (we already have some laws doing this now) What I mean is the act of gambling itself should not be outlawed, and if I want to bet $50 on a poker match, I should be allowed

There’s pretty rampant involuntary sex slavery stuff going on here but that’s not the brothel’s fault,

Well obviously sex slavery is not consensual sex and should be cracked down upon.

Crimes of Vice are: Activities that are made illegal because they offend the moral standards of the community banning them. Gambling, pornography, and prostitution are the big three of vice crimes in most states and communities.

I am highly against outlawing something based on "moral standards" because everyone has different moral standards so who gets to choose what is moral and what isn't? I believe in the right to express ones sexuality any way they want in their own homes but apparently reading pornography is an immoral act that should be banned because other people are too concerned what other people do with their dicks in the privacy of their own home.

This is why I subscribe to the "only if it harms others" philosophy because morals change from person to person and from era to era, and making laws based on "moral standards" are just a group of people forcing their standards on to others. We, as a society, have outlawed Murder, Thief, Slavery, Rape, Assault, Drunk Driving, and Racial Discrimination because they harmed others. People today are starting to realize things like Gay Marriage harmed no one, but were outlawed because of "moral standards" and people finally realized what bullshit it was being outlawed. Making laws based on moral standards have only done more harm then good and are blatantly against the concept of personal freedom.

It's not exactly accurate to call alcohol "victimless" when it kills 3.3 million people per year. Most other drugs, legal or otherwise, can't come close to comparing to the danger alcohol presents to both the drinker and anyone around them.

I don't think any of those should be given carte blanche status. Each one has elements which need to be regulated and even made illegal. For prostitution, you have minors participating and sex trafficking issues--not to mention the pimp abuse that's so common "pimp slap" entered the common vernacular.

You have incredibly deadly and highly addictive drugs that kill nearly as many people as car accidents do. I'm relatively indifferent towards marijuana--although the lung cancer risk needs to be kept in mind--but stuff like heroin should remain illegal, or should be as regulated as morphine is.

Gambling's issues can include fraud and potential illegal betting (cockfights, dogfights, etc.) that needs to be kept in mind.

Alcohol is well known for the deaths it causes every year--and not just from liver and heart issues. There's a reason MADD became a thing.

Prohibition proved you can't sweepingly ban something, but at the same time, you can't sweepingly legalize it either. These kinds of things are just too complicated, both in broad issues and regional ones that could develop, for simple answers like that.

Keep in mind that outright banning something that people will inevitably do, and thus forcing it into the shadows, can create or exacerbate a lot of the problems found with it. This is a big reason why, for example, a lot of people who are quite uncomfortable with the concept of abortion are still in favor of it being legal. The first thing that comes to mind is pimp abuse- what purpose in the internet age (there'd probably be a massive sex worker social network online within weeks of legalization) would such a position serve if being caught prostituting wasn't a crime? Not much of one, that's for sure.

>Keep in mind that outright banning something that people will inevitably do, and thus forcing it into the shadows, can create or exacerbate a lot of the problems found with it.

Didn't expect abortion. I thought you were going to bring up prohibition.

Now my 'moral' opinion is all vices should be outlawed and we should strive for enlightenment, free of all worldly desires.
My 'practical' opinion is that if lots of people do it and it can regulated through individual responsibility and/or the the police/law, and it does not bring harm to a person(s), than it should not be illegal.

As long as it don't affect me, i don't care.