With human vices, the “cure” is often worse than the “disease.” Everyone agrees Prohibition failed disastrously.
The “war on drugs” has also been ineffective, indeed, disastrous. But, the damage done by drug abuse is so great, it’s hard to embrace the idea that just because something is wrong does not mean it should be illegal. We are, however, edging in that direction. Marijuana is now legal in several states.
With gambling, we’ve gone too far. Casinos are touted as a cure for government deficits. Gambling is a vice. Legalizing gambling doesn’t make it a good thing. Gambling should be legal, but discouraged. Video gaming license fees should probably be raised significantly.
Abortion is, of course, still a contentious issue. Perhaps consequently, people have probably gone too far defending its legality by touting what is, at best, a regrettable expedient as a woman’s “right.”
Homosexuality has often been treated as a vice, but people are beginning to realize that the real problem is homophobia.
Prostitution’s illegality makes its worst aspects – forced prostitution and prostitutes being victims of extortion – even worse. Periodic “crackdowns” on “the oldest profession” only help delay effective change by giving the illusion that something constructive is being done.
(Published in the Rockford (IL) Register Star on 4/26/16 under the title “Fixes often make things worse.”)