Victimless Crimes - Drugs, Sex Work?

Okay this is something I don't understand. How can there be such things as victimless crimes? How can something be a crime if there is no victim? Why should something be a crime if it harms no one? Consensual prostitution (not involving a pimp) between adults should definitely be legal. When they reach the age of consent, an adult is considered to be mature enough to make decisions about their own body, and have consensual sex. So why can't they accept payment for it? Some of this I think stems from internalized beliefs from decades ago. Some people say that prostitutes are the victims, but if it is a legal, mentally sound adult, they are able to make their own decisions. Sex work is a service that people are willing to pay for, so why is providing an in-demand service that hurts no one illegal? If prostitution were legal, regulations involving protection could help prevent unintended pregnancy and the spread of STIs.

I wouldn't care if I had a child who went into sex work, as long as they weren't being exploited. Some parents don't like to think of their children as sexual beings, but I don't mind that everyone (except asexuals) is a sexual being and there is nothing wrong with that, as long as I'm not involved in it.

Another victimless crime is drug use, which literally has no effect on anyone other than the person taking the drugs. I understand a little more the argument that the drug user is the victim in this case, but I still firmly hold the belief that an adult should be able to do whatever they want as long as they are not harming another person (or animal) in any way.

 

I agree with you.

 

I completely agree with you.

People cite the effect on 'society'. By that they usually mean it costs tax money to clean up the effects. But I think taxation is theft too.

 

This is the best thing I heard all other than O'Malley announcing his candidacy. Freedom needs to stand for Freedom. As long as your not harming anyone or their property you should have the right to be left alone with your business or your home. You can have your drugs, sex clubs and guns as long you are not a danger to others. Let's focus on the crimes like rape, murder and theft which cause harm to victims and not crimes that have no affect on you. Also let's get rid of the statute of limitations for rape. But no let's make hundreds of gun laws and drug laws and put people in jail for 20 years for selling drugs while child abusers such as Josh Duggar preaches to the choir.

 

I found out in England about drug dealers in England that use the money from drugs and they put it into human trafficking which can force people into slavery

 

If prostitution and personal drug use were legalized and regulated then they wouldn't be crimes nor cause crimes such as non-consensual slavery.

So yeah, I think prostitution and personal drug use should be legalized and regulated. ^-^

 

People have been trafficked into the UK to work in cannabis factories. Kept like slaves, beaten, never let out of the house, never paid. Make sure you know who sources your supply.

Linky

 

Well that is their problem sadly. Don't me wrong human trafficking is wrong but just because are a few bad apples who harm others while selling drugs does not mean they have to ruin the fun for everyone in that business. IT is just like a one crazy guy gunning down a school resulting in banning all guns. You can ban things that harm others without banning civil liberties like smoking or selling a joint in the privacy of your home.

 

Just curious, where exactly you draw the line? I mean seeing a penis really doesn't do anybody any harm. What if I wanted to go to WalMart nude? I'm not really hurting anyone, it would make it kinda hard to carry around my wallet, cell phone, and keys.

How about it's my gun, my bullet, and my head. What if I want to shoot myself in the face, other than the poor guy who has to clean that shit up, I'm not hurting anyone else.

Maybe if I were walking down the sidewalk drinking and passed out in front of your house? I'm just lying there. I'm not hurting you.

I can see several people who have posted above having a problem with some of these activities, so where is the line?

 

Prostitution is legal in many places in the world. In fact, it's legal in more places than illegal.

I don't agree about drugs, though. Drugs are extremely harmful and addictive and even if you just try it once, it runs a high risk of ruining your life. There's also the fact that the effects of most drugs are so severe and last for so long that you can't do your job properly, so society eventually deteriorates.

The only drug I'd make an exception to would probably be marijuana. It's not toxic, so it isn't especially harmful and it's not really that addictive. The latter argument still stands though, overuse turns your brain to mush, more so than alcohol.

 

These things are illegal because they go against our Victorian, out-dated ideas on these sorts of things. But as we learned after we declared war on drugs, banning something doesn't make it go away, it just springs up an underground economy.

I honestly look at drugs and prostitution the same way I look at abortion. Abortion was illegal in 48 states out of 50 before Roe vs. Wade in 1973, and back then, the #1 cause of maternal death and defect was botched illegal abortions. After it became legal, there were still deaths from back-alley abortions because some women couldn't afford to have it done in a clinic, but in the grand scheme of things, the death/injury rate plummeted.

Now in terms of drug abuse, legalizing drugs would directly solve other societal problems, but it's not a self-solving problem. It would end mass incarceration and lower our prison population/costs immensely. Personally I think that if we'd treat it as a public health issue, the same way we got people to start using condoms when the AIDS crisis started back in the 80's, we would be better off as a society financially and materially.

As for prostitution, legalizing it wouldn't deal with human trafficking, as mentioned above. But personally, I like the model that's done in Canada: It's 100% illegal to pick up a hooker off the street, but in most cases, you can call an escort service and pay him/her for sex. It's regulated, they're subject to the same health regulations, and who's going to rob/rape/kill an escort when her employer has their name, phone number, and address recorded?

 

Could not of said better!

 

Yes, because my brother who did drugs hurt nobody but himself when he stole from my family (my dead grandma's jewelry that my mom cherished), had (or should I say "snuck" -- his homeless heroine addicted girlfriend often slept in his closet) other scummy people over, including his drug dealers when his car was taken away (I started developing anxiety issues from it and still have them), accidently overdosed and almost died in my mom's arms and surely cost the hospital and emergency reaponses teams lots of money and resources, and I could go on.

It's fucking stupid to say that drug use is a victimless crime as an umbrella. Not everybody can use them responsibly and there's different tiers of drugs. Drug abuse hurts more than the person unless they have absolutely no family and don't leave their home??

Things like these are crimes because that's what society WANTS. It doesn't have to have a specific or direct victim, it can just be a detriment and burden on society. Society collectively decides what it deems unacceptable and overall HARMFUL to society and empowers law enforcement to take those people out of civilized society.

 

So if society wants to legalize a currently illegal drug, they should be able to do that, then.

And a lot of society "wants" same-sex marriage not to exist. What "most people" want isn't always what should happen.

 

In many cases that is what should and does happen. There's no reason to have a government exist that doesn't carry out the will of the people.

 

Well, the government should also function to prevent tyranny by the majority. The will of the people was once segregation, but that was disregarded. Sometimes the government has to weigh the will of most people against people who are being ignored.

 

True. However, I think you're comparing apples to oranges. Same sex marriage is not a burden to society. Drug use is. It's not really a "victimless" crime.

 

No, I agree that the idea that drug use/abuse doesn't harm anyone else but the user is patently false. It can harm a great deal of people.

I just think "burden to society" is sometimes hard to define and people can define it how they want to fit their agenda.

I don't know how I feel about drugs being legal. Some drugs are legal: alcohol, tobacco...these are drugs, whether we like it or not. Others...I'm not sure. Pot is legal in the Netherlands and I know people who live there (including family) and society hasn't fallen apart there. But other drugs like meth and heroin...I'm immediately repulsed by the idea of legalizing them. It's complicated, I guess.

Meth is illegal but it's still a huge problem in many towns. Even it being illegal hasn't stopped it from being a problem. Drug use is hard to combat.