from Richard Russell: continues. "... like they tax alcohol and cigarettes. Of course we would also save the unbelievable amounts of money we throw away trying to stop people from engaging in these vices, usually making the activity more dangerous in the process. - Thomas Hawk

"selling is legal, and sex is legal, so why isn't selling sex legal?" George Carlin - Thomas Hawk

"Over the past 10-15 years, despite interventions at every point in the supply chain, cocaine and heroin consumption has been rising, prices falling and drugs have continued to reach users. Government interventions against the drug business are a cost of business, rather than a substantive threat to the industry's viability." -- Tony Blair - Thomas Hawk

Good idea, but I think there would be a significant uphill battle with the religious lobby against legalizing any of these activities or substances. - Jeff P. Henderson

And online gambling. - Joey Gibson

Prostitution in particular seems like a no brainer. As long as it is kept safe and all participants are adults I fail to see how it will harm anyone, or effect anyone who is not involved. - Jeff P. Henderson

Legalized prostitution seems to be working quite well in Nevada. - Jeff P. Henderson

Definition of gambling: "A tax on those who don't understand money." But sure, online gambling ought to be legal and taxed too. - Thomas Hawk

Or photography, a vice if ever there was one. - Tom Kimmerer

@Tom, last time I checked, Photography was legal ;-) - Jeff P. Henderson

and hard to tax. - Kevin Fox

Oh please. You'd just buy over the internet to evade sales taxes anyway. - Jake Rome

good point Jake. I suppose that they could figure out a way to tax it though. Aren't alcohol and smokes still taxed if you buy them on the internet? - Thomas Hawk

+1 Joey - studies have shown the US Gov. could collect $3 BILLION on taxes on online gaming if it's regulated and taxed. Instead the US Gov. is attempting to ban it by forcing the struggling banking industry to block 'unlawful internet gambling' - but they don't define what 'unlawful internet gambling' is!! - Ken Gidley

Yes they are, Thomas. My father sells cigars and he's responsible for paying all tobacco taxes on his product, not the consumer. In fact, tobacco products cannot be sold until the tax has been paid on them. - FFing Enigma (aka Tina)

I would be all for this, IF some of the money was also designated to treatment on demand for those who need it. IT is a sorry state that we are in now, where you have to wait months for treatment, but you can go to jail right away for using. - Beth K

Not only can the government make money on taxes on these things, they can save money by not having to pay to incarcerate people. The savings alone would make it worth it. - April Russo

Between the human costs (lives destroyed, families wrecked), the direct cost of imprisonment (highest incarceration rate in the world), the cost of kneecapping the potential economic productivity of those convicts, the law enforcement costs, the opportunity costs of lost law enforcement resources, *and* the failure to utilize a potential tax base, the war on drugs is our most disastrous and financially ruinous failed war. - Eric P

Eric, I agree, so then where are the politicians out there promoting this? Other than comments made earlier this year by failed Democratic Presidential Candidate Mike Gravel, I've heard very little from any politician on these matters. Why isn't Obama talking about this? - Thomas Hawk

I agree except for the cocaine part. - Ruchira S. Datta

Interesting note: The 21st Amendment to the Constitution, which repealed prohibition, was ratified in 1933, and the state that cast the deciding vote in ratifying this amendment was—of all states—Utah. - Jason Shultz

Utah, where you still can't homebrew... at least they got ratification of the 21st Amendment right, I guess. - Bob M. Montgomery from twhirl

Something tells me this isn't even on Obama's economic team's radar. My cynicism tells me the pharmaceutical and religious industrial complexes would never allow this to happen, but my idealism is holding out hope for at least decriminalization. - Pete D

@Thomas: Because it's unpopular. No politician - least of all a Democratic one, wants to be seen as "soft of crime" (whatever the hell that means). It's an issue that seems obvious to rational thinkers, but to the vast majority of the population, ending the war on drugs is tantamount to the government teaching first graders how to use crack cocaine. We're making baby steps towards marijuana legalization, but the general public just isn't there for "hard" drugs. - Eric P

In short, if we want it to change it'll take a massive grassroots effort and a campaign to educate the public on the folly of treating drugs as a criminal rather than medical problem, and minimally reach the point where the public doesn't punish politicians who might call for an end to this war. - Eric P

at the very least, I simply don't understand why Prostitution is still illegal in the US. - Duncan Riley

they did legalized prostitution in Germany, tho not sure whether they thought it well -- one might find himself unemployed, only to face stark choice between cut-off unemployment benefits and going to now-legal-and-moral-by-law job offered... - A.T.

There are plenty of good reasons for keeping prostitution illegal, on a moral level, for instance, it is simply the case the legal or illegal, prostitution is a pretty terrible profession, with a ton of potential for abuse. It may be inevitable, that doesn't mean we have to like it. - Jamelle

Most of the potential for abuse stems from the prohibition on prostitution rather than prostitution itself. Look at the porn industry as a prototype - you can't argue with a straight face that the girls were better off when the whole thing was underground and performers were stigmatized as opposed to now with legal protection, support, STD testing, producers operating within the law, etc. - Eric P

I disagree jamelle and +10 eric. how "bad" it is depends very much on the circumstances and conditions surrounding the prostitute in question. - tiffany

Now that's what I'm talking about!!! There's only one way to deal with a depression....have a massive friggin party. - Toby Graham