Are some things better off legal? (moral, contradiction, blood, creation)

[Ulver]

There were some important issues being discussed in the Victimless Crimes thread, but it becoming focused on "if there is any sort of victim" I feel drifted attention away from the issues themselves. So here I'm asking to view the issues and figure for yourself by weighing the consequences if it would be better for these things to be legal or illegal.

Originally Posted by Michel

1. Prostitution.

Prostitution is a crime. The prostitute herself is a victim of the crime of prostitution, from the moment she becomes one, I contend.
If society was perfect there would never be the need for prostitutes; but there is a need (so I am told, I mean...........)and the prostitute is a victim everytime she 'entertains' a client, even if not physically, then certainly, from a psychogical aspect.

Originally Posted by Ulver

yet if it were made legal it could be secluded to a certain part of a city (red light district) or area. Also if it's legal it can be government regulated (by the state rather then federal would be best) and they could get STD tests regularly.

Ideally prostitution wouldn't exist, but I think if done right, then it would be better legal then illegal. Also it helps by lowering crime by not having pimps and drug dealers running things, but instead the state government.

Originally Posted by Michel

3. some truly recreational drug use.
All recreational drug use involves a black market , therefore the cost of the
drugs reflect the fact that they can only be bought from certain sources, therefore there is an exhorbitant price paid, therefore the guy who buys the drugs is a victim ?

Originally Posted by Ulver

Well some consider smoking Pot as a victimless crime. Presonally I think making Pot illegal creates more victims then by making it legal. I mean heck, you can overdose on drinking alcohol, but it's yet to be found possible to overdose on Pot. Also Pot being sold by drug dealers is the big problem. It's like when the Mafia sold alcohol during prohibition. Also Pot is a gate-way drug more then likely due to the fact that the drug dealers who sell pot are also the ones who sell far more harmful drugs, like heroin. Add to that also the violence that surrounds drug dealers and eventually this violence sucks up the adults and kids who get their pot from the drug dealers. It then makes more sense to make something like Pot legal in my mind.

np: Nine Inch Nails- Burn

[Ryan2065]

So shall we legalize pot now? So would it be legal to smoke pot while you are working? I don't know about you, but I wouldn't want say my tax attorney smoking pot and losing their short term memory as they are doing my taxes. Here is a list of the short term effects of pot...
- Bad short term memory and lowered learning abilities
- difficulty thinking and problem solving
- poor performance, loss of coordination and risk of injury
- inability to drive safely or do complex tasks for up to 24 hours of use.
- distored sense of sight, hearing, touch, time, and depth
- reduced athletic ability
- elevated heart rate
- anxiety, panic attacks

Note, these are short term side effects, not long term. If you want to read more about the effects of pot read this website... http://www.allpotseeds.com/bad-effects-of-pot.html

[michel]

Legalized prostitution - I think so. Sadly. Let's face it, it is one of the oldest professions!


Legalize prostitution, make sure they are all kept safe, have regular check ups, they pay taxes on their earnings...

It will never go away, so why not regulate it ?

There was a woman from kenya on the television not long ago (Think it was kenya - it was Africa anyway) - "Me ", she said" I charge $4 with a condom; $8 without - trouble is, I need the money, see............."

Can anyone think of something as tragic as that - with the numbers of HIV and AIDS in Africa - and yet, you still get this girl...............

[Ryan2065]

Originally Posted by michel

It will never go away, so why not regulate it ?

This is no reason to legalize something. Murder will also never go away. None of the crimes we have will ever go away, someone will always be breaking them. =) Yet we still keep them illegal.

As far as prostitution goes, I say it should be legalized. There would have to be restrictions on it, you would need to get a liscense to do it, things of that nature. Also you would need say weekly blood tests, or a blood test after so many clients. That could work...

[Seyorni]

There are a few laws that seem somewhat questionable, though no doubt they seemed quite reasonable at the time they were passed...

http://www.dribbleglass.com/subpages/laws.htm

[Aqualung]

Originally Posted by michel

There was a woman from kenya on the television not long ago (Think it was kenya - it was Africa anyway) - "Me ", she said" I charge $4 with a condom; $8 without - trouble is, I need the money, see............."

Hey! I saw that on PBS, except I saw it a bunch of times, because it was rerun for about a week.

I don't think the answer is legalisation. I think it's better (what's that called when the cops do a better job of arresting people? I just can't think of the word!) Of course I don't think the government has a right to keep it illegal, but I don't want to see it legal. It's a contradiction brought on by my political and moral viewpoints. I don't like to see the government regulating something that is between consenting adults, but prostitution seems so morrally base that I don't want to see it legal. I'm in a horrible stuggle.

[Crystallas]

Originally Posted by Ryan2065

This is no reason to legalize something. Murder will also never go away. None of the crimes we have will ever go away, someone will always be breaking them. =) Yet we still keep them illegal.

You cant regulate murder anywhere near as effective as areas with legalized prositution have done for these sex servicers.

You cut Michel's quote, while the rest of his post defined why he felt that way. Why do people cut quotes? Cheap debate.

[Seyorni]

If prostitution were legal hookers would be subject to regular STD exams every couple weeks, there would be customer screening and enforceable regulations on condom usage.

The deleterious effects of the profession could be considerably ameliorated.

[Ryan2065]

In the Victimless Crimes thread there was a list of crimes that people seemed to think wern't so bad, I want to post the parts of the list I disagree with here and debate them. Note, the list was origionally posted by EnhancedSpirit.
1) Drug Use - This should not be legalized under any circumstances. This advocates that all drugs should be legalized even the hard stuff that makes you addicted.
2) Seat Belt Violations - It should not be legal to drive without a seat belt because when you do if you get in a crash you are turned into a human projectile that can hit and harm other people. Why should others hurt for your own stupidity?
3) Loitering Laws - if these laws were taken away then people sitting outside of stores scaring away customers could not be gotten rid of.
4) RICO Laws - ok, laws against corrupt organizations? These laws are made to be against organized crime sydnactes (aka the mob).
5) Internet Censorship laws - I was not aware there was a censorship law on the internet... can someone expand on these?
6) Nudity Prohibition - do you want nudity everywhere? Then any ad campaign can have nude models, anyone can walk around nude. That does not seem alright.
7) Solicitation laws - as far as I know, it is only illegal to solicitate at places that have stickers up saying they don't want them.
8) driver licenses (is the driver's test necessary or sufficient to keep streets safe?) - It might not be sufficient but these tests ARE necessary.
9) business/professional licenses - Yes, lets let all businesses operate without a liscense. Then they can lie, cheat, and steal without any problems. They can mis-represent their products whithout having to worry about losing their liscense.
10) trade/export restrictions - these are usually in place to help smaller businesses that cannot outsource their product.
11) minimum wage (what if a retired person wants to do a little work, but doesn't need a lot of money?) - There should be no argument about minimum wage. This is something that needs to be in place to make sure that people aren't screwed over.