Four reasons "Why not":
a) Maybe this comes from my protective parenting as a father of four, but I don't buy the "legalize it, because everyone's doing it" philosophy.
My perspective is obviously different as a single guy in my mid-20s. I don't even necessarily disagree with you to a degree. "Everybody's doing it!" isn't always a good philosophy. But prostitution, gambling and marijuana have been around for centuries. They're not "trends." They're going to continue to be around for centuries. Why not capitalize? I cringe at the waste of money involved with persecuting pot smokers, gamblers and people who pay for sex.
Furthermore, legalizing these things would obviously lead to regulations. I'd much rather see people buying uncut, regulated weed from authorized sellers than some soulless back alley dealer. The health benefits of selling a regulated drug vs. an unregulated one are obvious. What's not as obvious are the benefits of being able to but weed in a safe setting vs. an unregulated dealer.
With prostitution, you can enforce health regulations (STD testing being the big one) and ensure cleaner circumstances for transactions.
If you have an issue with profiting from these things, I can understand (I don't love the idea of it either). But I see it like this... with legalization you're also saving money by reducing health risks and not wasting money chasing "criminals" who aren't guilty of anything significant. Who really cares if a guy wants to pay for a hand job after a massage or smoke a bowl after work? I'd rather see my money spent chasing rapists and murderers.
b) Making F.R. a home to legalized illegitimate industries may result in a quick boost to the city's coffers, but who would want to live there?
Who wants to live there to begin with? I have a lot of nostalgia for the area. I grew up around there. I have family and friends around there. I have no desire to live there. Everyone's already trying to get out. As I said before, most of these things are already happening on a large scale to begin with in Fall River and similar cities.
Furthermore, if you legalize these industries (maybe concentrate them in a "red light district" of sorts), you take the drug dealers and hookers off of neighborhoods streets and put them in legitimate regulated businesses in a concentrated area. In a city where these things run rampant, you can literally clean up the streets by legalizing certain things that are currently considered "crimes." Then of course, the boost to the coffers couldn't hurt an economically depressed city.
c) We have some of the best universities in the country (world?); we are home to Putnam, Fidelity, and State Street Bank among others. With all this incredible brain power resident in the Commonwealth, making money off of people's weaknesses is a massive financial cop-out. Is this really the best plan that we can come up with?
Fall River has
none of those things (and again, neither do many of the secondary cities in the state). What they have is crime, unemployment, a complete lack of education, and maybe the occasional state school or community college. In Boston, sure it's a financial cop-out. No one even said it's the BEST plan, but it's A plan and it sure won't hurt these smaller cities financially. They're desperate for money. The investments aren't exactly pouring in to Fall River.
Connecting Fall River to Boston via commuter rail will be a big step forward. Investing in its seaport and waterfront is another. But legalizing some of these so-called crimes will be a nice boost. Possibly even a way to raise a little money to make better investments. Just like parts of a gas tax go to offset infrastructure upgrades, prostitution and weed taxes can help to fund better education programs. Turn a negative (that will be there regardless of legality) into as much of a positive as possible.
d) Civilized society stands most secure when it stands on its moral underpinning.
I don't buy this. Sure, it's a nice thought; but I don't buy it.
Morals are highly subjective. Frankly, I don't care what other people do on their own time so long as it doesn't hurt anyone else (rape, murder, assault, etc) or directly cost anyone money (theft). I don't care if a lonely older man goes to a brothel to pay for sex. In fact, I almost take more of an issue with anyone who wants to sit there and judge or tell him that he is not allowed to do it because they don't like the concept of it.
Beyond that, all of these things (prostitution, marijuana, gambling) already exist in our society. they always have and they will continue to. I just believe that we should stop wasting time and money by trying to punish those who participate in these activities.
For what it's worth, I don't gamble (not even scratch tickets), I rarely ever smoke weed, and I would NEVER pay for sex. But I don't have an issue with people who do like those things.
LRfox, I might have to start hanging out with you....
Trust me, it's not as cool as it sounds. You should see the "women" selling themselves in these bars.
