The legalization of sex, drugs, and gambling would help remedy these industries by bringing them into the spotlight, Tom Matlack argues.
Priests can’t have sex, but the Church—and law enforcement—has allowed pedophilia to run rampant for years (First One to Come Forward). Apparently the only place it every happened is Happy Valley (Look in the Mirror).
Strip clubs are legal, but if you are going to serve drinks, you can only be topless (Inside a Strip Club). The most explicit sexual acts are OK on the web as long as they don’t involve a minor. The states with the highest pornography consumption are the most religiously conservative: Utah and the Bible Belt. Meanwhile, the federal government has decided to invoke the 13th amendment to the Constitution and deploy Homeland Security resources to fight sex slavery .
Alcohol and cigarettes kill significantly more Americans than all other drugs combined. Yet they are legal, and the “bad” drugs are illegal. The demand for illegal drugs in the United States is ripping Mexico apart as rival cartels kill each other for a share of the enormous black market.
For many minorities in our inner cities, the only realistic way to make a living is to participate in the distribution of drugs (Blood Splattered). Because it is illegal, this requires gang-style violence to enforce selling territories and selling relationships. Drugs dominate not just the lives of our most vulnerable citizens, but the economies of their communities as well. It’s mob-style abolition on a massive scale.
A long time ago we stole the land of the Native Americans. We used guns, a concept of property that was foreign to them, and sometimes even spread disease in their midst with the intent to kill them off. To make up for this immoral behavior, we have allowed a certain few Native Americans have a monopoly on gambling casinos.
State governments have long used lotteries to raise much needed money. This has been proven to be a regressive form of taxation. But now with state budgets in disarray, lawmakers are looking to increase gambling as a last resort. In my home state of Massachusetts, we have been debating slots forever and have now passed a law approving new Vegas-style casinos.
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The United States government is very good at auctioning off licenses. Since 1994, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has conducted auctions of licenses for the electromagnetic spectrum. The government has raised billions of dollars to grant the rights to the airwaves to private communications companies. Why not do the same thing for the supposed vices that are tearing our country apart?
Here’s how it would work. Each state would be granted the right to sell off licenses to particular forms of prostitution, gambling, and drug distribution. Massachusetts might decide they want two statewide providers of legalized cocaine and city-by-city prostitution licensing. Bidders would not only propose a license purchase price but also detail a process by which they would manage, monitor, and keep control over the business once it’s established.
From the government standpoint, we would receive substantial upfront payment from selling all these licenses. We’d then have the right to tax all these vices heavily, to make them somewhat less attractive and continue to generate much needed revenue. And we would have the ability to regulate, making sure that women in the sex trade are not exploited, that drug dosing is uniform with no foreign substance, and that gambling is fair.
This change in strategy would produce two much needed consequences.
First, it would allow us to take the prevalence of drugs, gambling, and sex out of the darkness and bring it into the light for all to see. Think of what has happened to the tobacco industry in this country. We didn’t outlaw it. We sued the companies for killing people and lying about it, and we made it uncool to smoke through large ad campaigns and banning it in public places like bars and restaurants.
Every drug container would have a warning label outlining the risks of using that substance. We’d finally get clear on what drugs have what scientific impacts on the human body and make that public knowledge. For every form of gambling, we would advertise, in bold letters, the exact odds of winning and losing, making clear you have to be an idiot to play. And we could finally start advertising the actual statistics about what is going on in the sex trade from pornography to strip clubs to prostitution. It wouldn’t be made illegal, but we’d finally begin to deal with its influence on our society.
The second major change would be to move from criminal to civil prosecution of cases involving vices. With licenses bought for large sums by established private companies, their right would be to police against anyone selling their product without a license. What before was a criminal matter would become purely economic with private companies suing anyone infringing on their rights just the way a patent holder might bring suit against a rival for using their intellectual property.
We’d finally stop putting so many minority men away in prison for becoming the foot soldiers in the illegal distribution of narcotics. Abolition didn’t work with booze, and it sure isn’t working with drugs. Booze may have bred the mob, but drugs have come to dominate manhood in our inner cities, and threatens to take down the whole of Mexico.
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Some might argue that legalizing drugs, sex, and gambling would make it more available and, therefore, increase the prevalence of these vices in our society. Just on first blush, I find it hard to believe that drugs, sex, and gambling could be any MORE dominant than they already are. Every state government is talking about opening casinos and expanding the lotto to pay their bills. Porn and the sex trade have become the biggest single entertainment industry. Drugs are arguably ruining our country as it is, both from use and by imprisoning so many men who might otherwise be useful members of our society.
These problems exist and are getting worse. We should legalize them, so we can actually get a grasp and start to make sense of it all, eliminating the dark underbelly, getting children out of prostitution and drugs out of our poorest communities.
We need to get radically honest about the impact of these vices on our people. Stop the hypocrisy of gambling under only certain nonsensical conditions that prey on the poor. Regulate and systematize the narcotic industry so we can focus on education and treatment rather than throwing away a whole generation. And finally, stop talking about sexual exploitation like it never happens when it’s actually omni-present.
Do you have a better idea?
—Photo Samantha Jade Royds/Flickr
Okay, grammar police here: “Apparently the only place it every happened” WTF?! This piece has been up for almost 1Q and no one’s corrected this?
Awesome article, Tom. I totally agree.
I just shudder when reading “Legalize sex”! Like it’s been illegal…
(ok, I know for some people it should be 😉 )
I think it’s a poor choice of words, and misleading.
Legalizing ‘illicit’ sex/substances/activities will in the short term most likely create immense societal chaos. The social system would be required to adapt, in some ways against the values of the majority, and I do not mean the moral minority, I mean the majority of prefered and ingrained values in the 1st world. Abuse of other human beings perpetuates the trauma wherein people fil their lives with addictions to lust and drugs and gambling and whatever drugs are available. People raised in shame are so accostomed to feeling shame that propoganda creating shame around that consumption is most likely only to… Read more »
Gambling is legal here in Australia and we have big signs next to the pokies saying what an idiot you are for doing it and…it’s still a huge problem that ruins lives and families regularly. Just like the legal products of alcohol and tobacco. And just like what legalised drugs would do.
Someone earlier mentioned Wilberforce and the British campaign to end the international slave trade in the early 1800’s, as an example of a society pulling together to end human trafficking. This is an interesting choice of inspiration, but maybe not in the ways intended. Wilberforce was moved by religious belief that slavery was evil, but the British business elite was thinking of long-term economic benefit. The big business leaders of the time realized that slave labor was less efficient than wage labor, and the imperialists reckoned it would be better for the British empire to have Africans as employees and… Read more »
Initially I would have been against legalizing any of these crimes and vices, simply because they’re illegal and corrupt. But I have a change of mind. I think once these things are legalized… government, police enforcement, media, schools and social agencies can work toward educating and weening people off of these bad habits. This is being done with cigarette smoking. Smoking was banned in malls; soon after came restaurants, workplaces and now vehicles with small children as passengers. Also stores had to hide cigarette packages from view. These changes came in small stages and people were warned ahead of time… Read more »
The only downside to legalization is that it means more government control in our lives. Government regulatory agencies don’t always do their jobs very well. There is not a more regulated industry than Banking and Wall Street. And you see what a great job those agencies did there!
“Abolition didn’t work with booze, and it sure isn’t working with drugs.”
Truer words are rarely spoken! Regulation, not prohibition, is the key to controlling these things. Legalizing and regulating these things is what the world needs! If there is anything that we can count on, its that the IRS will get their tax money! Drug dealers wont stand a chance!
Yeah, continuing to ruin people’s lives is ok, as long as the IRS get their money and we get rid of drug dealers, right.
Awsome article Matlack! If you look around the World, you’ll find many countries wherethere are either no laws against these vices,or if there are, they only exist “on paper” and are’nt enforced. These countries don’t seem to be any worse off than us in this regard. When I was in 7th grade or so I remember this new government pharse “The War on Drugs”. Well, it’s been 45 years or so. So , how’s that war going anyway?( This is why I shudder when I hear the pharse “The War on Terror”). In High School, I remember it was easier… Read more »
The problem with the view that women are often sold into the sex industry against their will is that it is simply not true. The number of women (and men) who are found who have been “sold into slavery” every year is very, very small compared to the number of women (and men) who sell sex. It is not a norm: it is a small exception. Yes, trafficking does occur. No, it is not the “normal” state of affairs in the sex biz. Recent research into minors selling sex in NYC, for example, indicates that: 1) There are only probably… Read more »
Yup – it’s easy to get indignant and upset over an op ed in a news paper over breakfast. A headline, some partial information and opinion expressed by an editor or journalist goes such a long way. It even makes people reach for their coffee and fruit juice – and they don’t realize what they are consuming at the table. It was the same before the abolition of slavery in the US and Europe. I’m interested in the NY figures – especially the one that Only 10% of child sex workers have a pimp. It does not agree with past… Read more »
Are you referring to “The Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children in New York City – Volume One – The CSEC Population in New York City: Size, Characteristics, and Needs, Curtis etal – 2008″ – funded by the U.S. Department of Justice – John Jay College of Criminal Justice? It has some interesting figures including the proportion of pimps who are female and trading upon both male and female children. The report is seen as having a higher value than others due to the ethnographic work done where the researchers actually went out on the streets to see reality – and… Read more »
I’m glad that someone else has started to criticize our culture’s obsession with “sex trafficking” or what I like to call the “phantom menace.” By the way, as far as human trafficking goes I would love to see the west take very strict stands on other types of human trafficking such as conscripting soldiers and particularly child soldiers. For some reason we in the first world become very squeamish when it comes to the remote possibility that women and children may be trafficked in the sex trade but tend to ignore the fact that men, children and at times women… Read more »
We also have American subcultures that use the word “pimp” as a compliment. That suggests we have a long way to go. (And white people like me calling a man’s tank-top a “wife-beater” shirt is hardly progressive either.)
The opinion of greatest importance to me is that of the sex worker, and there is a strong consensus among these workers that some level of (hybrid) legalization / decriminalization is what they desire. Most workers voice preferences for removing statutes that criminalize sex work, facilitating a social and political environment where they had legal rights and could seek help when they become victims of violence. Safer working conditions and legal protections afforded to other workers are table stakes in this discussion. The very definition of naiveté is expecting a better outcome by making the same tired policy mistakes that… Read more »
You’ve nailed it. If sex workers want sex work to be legalized, I say go for it. No one knows what’s best for sex workers better than they do.
Their opinions are important for another reason. By far they are the most knowledgeable about how the industry actually works. I think feminist researchers, including those that have interviewed prositutes really have no clue as to what they are talking about.
Practicality follows morality, that is to say that moral laws have practical results & immoral laws spawn impracticality. It is immoral for a person or group to dictate to an individual what activities s/he is allowed to participate in that don’t necessarily infringe on anyone else’s life, liberty, or property. Such an immoral, dictatorial attempt ultimately results in problems of impracticality. There are many examples. The Prohibitionists had no right to use political weapons like pluralism and lobbyism to infringe on other adults’ decision to use alcohol. The impractical result?: the punishments of innocent people, the rise of organized crime,… Read more »
I just finished reading an interesting book called “The Origins of AiDS” which among other things talks quite a bit about prostitution in the city of Leopoldville (now Kinshasa) in the former Belgian Congo. When the city was founded by the Belgians, they tried to keep out women and families — they only wanted laborers. Not surprisingly, prostitution flourished. However, it was a kind of prostitution very unlike what you might expect. There were no brothels, no pimps or madams. The prostitutions were, by and large, independent women who came to the city for a variety of reasons (abandonment by… Read more »
Sorry for typos – damn autocorrect!
I would not call myself a libertarian….I might instead call myself a pragmatarian. I am mostly libertarian but for very pragmatic reasons. “There were no brothels, no pimps or madams.” This is exactly what prostitution currently looks like. Craigslist changed everything. A lot of prostitutes these days are independent. They have no pimps or madams and their are no brothels. Its all about economics in the end. Prostitutes needed brothels because they needed some place where the client would be able to find them. Craiglist disintermediates and eliminates the middle man. Getting rid of Craigslist didn’t really change anything. I… Read more »
I respect that argument. I just wish people would quit arguing that legalization will solve the kinds of serious social problems that are associated with the current industry (such as child prostitution or sex trafficking) because it won’t! So if legalization is the policy decision, it should not be for that reason.
Legalize it all you want, it isn’t going to get better. Pros that have licenses and belong to a union won’t put up with certain behaviors and an underground market will appear in no time that will allow the consumer the freedom to abuse. So, no change there.
“Legalize it all you want, it isn’t going to get better. Pros that have licenses and belong to a union won’t put up with certain behaviors and an underground market will appear in no time that will allow the consumer the freedom to abuse. So, no change there.”
Ok then legalize and completely deregulate. Then an underground market is impossible.
I’m kind of a morality libertarian. I don’t think there should be such a thing as a “consensual crime.” If two (or more) people engage in something in private that both consent to, then I don’t see why the state should make it illegal. Same thing with consenting to do something to yourself – I don’t think the state should stop me from smoking pot in my own home. If it doesn’t harm the lives or property of others, then it is not really in the public interest to stop it. Even if something is “immoral,” that does not automatically… Read more »
To stop Prostitution altogether is the only way.
Legalizing sexual slavery ,which has happen in Amsterdam,has made this kind of slavery worse than ever.
Do men have no conscience ,these women are beaten raped falsed to take drugs and worse,
how can anyone thing of legalizing something that should have been closed down at the end of slavery.
Prostitution is where a man pays to rape a woman,so your suggesting legalizing rape ?
Someone brought up the possibility that legalizing more kinds of sex work would lead to an increase in human trafficking. Possibly. But, from the immigrant’s point of view, would it be better to be smuggled into a legal job or into an illegal job? I’m guessing moving into a legal job would be better. In any case, the people most exploited in *any* local industry are people who immigrate illegally and who are brought into an underground economy. They would be in an underground black market whether prostitution was legal or not. (I’m assuming under legalized prostitution that employing illegal… Read more »
Legalize, regulate and unionize them all I say!
I think I used a word I shouldn’t have used.
When money is involved, and big money, I don’t know if legalizing anything matters. There are always markets for the “good stuff” the government won’t allow. As Amsterdam has seen, trafficking increases. I’ve actually been pro legalization of the things mentioned, but I’m actually not really of a belief it would make any of them go away.
Dark stuff, all of it.
I don’t believe opponents of prostitution who claim trafficking in Holland is higher because of legalization. They have a pecuniary interest in seeing every illegal immigrant who works in the sex trade as trafficked.
When money is involved, and big money, I don’t know if legalizing anything matters. There are always markets for the “good stuff” the government won’t allow. As Amsterdam has seen, trafficking increases. I’ve actually been pro legalization of the things mentioned, but I’m actually not really of a belief it would make any of them go away.
I know Thaddeus was banned, but damn I’d love to see his responses here. I realize he posted a lot, but I found his points stunning and rigorous.
Not to sound like a hair-splitting troll, but “sex” is already legal, if we’re talking about consensual sex. I assume you mean making overt prostitution legal. I say “overt” because there are already many ways in which people exchange sexual favors for various sorts of compensation. (Bumping and grinding my way to a promotion, for example.) Now to sound like a real nutcase: The recent attention to sexual slavery in America is totally overblown. It’s a social and moral panic over something that does exist, but not nearly on the scale that warrants an argument against all forms of sex… Read more »
I would like to see evidence that legalizing prostitution won’t increase human trafficking. Prostitution is legal and highly regulated in Amsterdam, yet there is a huge problem with trafficking of women from Eastern Europe, or so I’ve read. Legalization will almost certainly increase demand, since I assume that many men who would otherwise like to visit prostitutes are currently deterred by the illegal aspects of it. Organized crime will not ignore the huge profits to be made and it is naive to think that the criminal element can be eliminated through increased regulation or government oversight. I would support legalization… Read more »
Jill – quite right. Legislate and license – It does not solve all the issues and brings up quite a few new one’s along the way. Legalization of prostitution also allows Women to openly and lawfully rent another persons body for sex – it is not just men who access prostitutes – and that then drives human trafficking to meet that need too! There are many cases of males from disadvantaged backgrounds being used by Janes – with the top taking the money. If you have ever spoken with male prostitutes you get told all sorts of stories. The mythology… Read more »
When I see you calling for the banning of autos because of pollution and global warming, I’ll take you seriously on the idea that the vice industry should be banned until it comes up with a way to solve all the pitfalls associated with it.
Yes, let’s ban everything bad that might have a slight negative effect on socirty in the tiniest way no matter how much worse civilisation would be without it. Because driving a car is totally equal to selling a person for sex.
The dark side of human trafficking is in part because the immigration itself is illegal. You are at the mercy of the coyotes who smuggle you into the country because you can’t turn to the police because of your immigration status. This happens to some degree when you are smuggled in to work in *any* part of the economy. By definition, illegal immigration *is* organized crime, so of course organized crime is going to be part of it whether people are smuggled in to clean bathrooms or sell sex, whether selling sex is legal or not. It’s interesting how in… Read more »
P.S. That woman from Burma could also be forced into doing work that is perfectly legal for citizens or people with appropriate visas. The central problem is the kidnapping, coercion, and enslavement, which the illegality only reinforces. There are plenty of sweatshops that have nothing to do with sex work, in which women are treated as slaves at the mercy of unscrupulous people. Perhaps if we made sewing machines illegal this would cut down on human trafficking?
You’ve read mere speculation on the situation in Holland. Foes of sex work assume every prostitute that is in Holland without a permit has been trafficked. Of course they’d do that; they earn a living from saying this. As for medical marijuana, complete legalization would largely eradicate any mob connection, if there is one. Marijuana would be ubiquitous and therefore no more likely to be mob-controlled than Snickers bars.
Will legalizing prostitution lead to an increase in human trafficking? That’s a totally valid question to ask, but not a decisive question in my opinion. Just because something will allow more human trafficking doesn’t mean that it should never be done. I know that sounds heartless, but hear me out. If we increased cell phone coverage, sped up internet speeds, lowered freight costs, and expanded the country’s rail system, this would no doubt benefit human traffickers while benefitting almost everyone else as well. I’m sure these traffickers are using cell phones, the internet, online banking, GPS tracking, container shipping systems,… Read more »
Selling licenses to engage in a particular activity is not legalizing that activity. If these things are actually rights, they should be legalized- which means we would not have to pay a bribe to be allowed to engage in them without risk of retribution from government.
Spoken like a true Montanan!
And a jury nullification advocate! We should simply be refusing to convict people of victimless “crimes”. As Lysander Spooner made explicitly clear, vices are not crimes. http://FIJA.org
Right on
Very much agree that legalization is the proper route to minimizing the coercive aspects of human vices. Reference Portugal’s foray into addressing hard drug use within its borders:
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=portugal-drug-decriminalization
Shifting dollars/efforts from penal and court systems to mitigation and support is the only worthwhile action left to pursue.