Editing Victimless crime (section)

==Legalization of victimless acts==
Many activities that were once considered crimes are no longer illegal in some countries, at least in part because of their status as victimless crimes.

One example is the British [[sturdy beggar]] laws that applied the [[death penalty]] to [[unemployment]].

Two large categories of victimless crimes are sexual pleasure and recreational drug use (drug pleasure). On the first,
* Homosexual sex has been legalized in many countries,<ref>{{cite web |title=Criminalization of same-sex sexual relationships decreasing |url=https://www.unaids.org/en/resources/presscentre/featurestories/2019/october/20191007_criminalization-same-sex-sexual-relationships-decreasing |website=www.unaids.org |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Factbox: Botswana joins the 10 latest countries to decriminalize gay sex |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-botswana-lgbt-countries/factbox-botswana-joins-the-10-latest-countries-to-decriminalize-gay-sex-idUSKCN1TC20Y |access-date=27 October 2021 |work=Reuters |date=11 June 2019 |language=en}}</ref> the first one being France in 1791.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Ph.D |first1=Paula Gerber |title=Worldwide Perspectives on Lesbians, Gays, and Bisexuals [3 volumes] |date=2021 |publisher=ABC-CLIO |isbn=978-1-4408-4227-6 |page=97 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lQsVEAAAQBAJ&dq=first+country+to+decriminalize+homosexuality+france&pg=RA1-PA97 |language=en}}</ref>
* Other sexual matters considered victimless crimes and proposed for legalization include [[Legality of incest|consensual adult incest]]<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Hörnle |first1=Tatjana |title=Consensual Adult Incest |journal=New Criminal Law Review |date=2014 |volume=17 |issue=1 |pages=76–102 |doi=10.1525/nclr.2014.17.1.76}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Braasch |first1=Patrick |title=Margin of Appreciation or a Victimless Crime: The European Court of Human Rights on Consensual Incest of Adult Siblings |journal=German Yearbook of International Law |date=2012 |volume=55 |pages=613 |url=https://heinonline.org/HOL/LandingPage?handle=hein.journals/gyil55&div=24&id=&page=}}</ref> and [[sexting]] by teenagers (considered [[child pornography]]).<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Lampe |first1=Joanna R. |title=A Victimless Sex Crime: The Case for Decriminalizing Consensual Teen Sexting |journal=University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform |date=2012–2013 |volume=46 |pages=703 |url=https://heinonline.org/HOL/LandingPage?handle=hein.journals/umijlr46&div=31&id=&page=}}</ref>

Marijuana use is forbidden by law in [[Australia]] but is the most "widely used illicit drug" in the country, just as it is in countries such as the [[United States]] and [[New Zealand]].<ref name=":1">{{cite journal|last1=Hall|first1=W.|title=The recent Australian debate about the prohibition on cannabis use.|journal=Addiction|date=1997|volume=92 | issue = 9 |pages=1109–1115|doi=10.1111/j.1360-0443.1997.tb03668.x|pmid=9374007}}</ref> [[Prohibition in the United States|Prohibition of alcohol]] in the United States, repealed in 1933, is considered a failed "social experiment" because many citizens ignored what it stipulated, turning to home-made spirits in lieu of licensed alcoholic drinks and resultantly making problems worse.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Hall|first1=Wayne|title=What are the policy lessons of National Alcohol Prohibition in the United States, 1920–1933?|journal=Addiction|date=2010|volume=105 | issue = 7 |pages=1164–1173|doi=10.1111/j.1360-0443.2010.02926.x|pmid=20331549}}</ref> In the United States today, tension over marijuana legalization is in response to the current marijuana prohibition in most states,<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Routh|first1=Matthew J.|title=Re-thinking liberty: Cannabis prohibition and substantive due process|journal=The Kansas Journal of Law & Public Policy|date=2017|volume=26 | issue = 2 |pages=174–175}}</ref> but there are efforts to legalize cannabis in many countries such as the United States and Australia, as its legalization has the potential to greatly increase revenue.<ref name=":1" /><ref>{{cite journal|vauthors=McGinty EE, Niederdeppe J, Heley K, Barry CL |title=Public perceptions of arguments supporting and opposing recreational marijuana legalization|journal=Preventive Medicine|date=2017|volume=99|pages=80–86|doi=10.1016/j.ypmed.2017.01.024|pmid=28189806}}</ref>

[[Legality of prostitution|Prostitution is legal in many countries, though usually restricted]]. The Netherlands legalized prostitution in 1999, and was one of the first countries to do so. As of 2012, however, it has been considering policy changes to severely restrict it.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Outshoorn|first1=Joyce|title=Policy Change in Prostitution in the Netherlands: From Legalization to Strict Control.|journal=Sexuality Research and Social Policy|date=2012|volume=9 | issue = 3 |pages=233–243|doi=10.1007/s13178-012-0088-z|doi-access=free}}</ref>

[[Adultery]] (sexual acts between a married person and a person other than the spouse) and [[fornication]] (sexual acts between unmarried people) have not been prosecuted in the United States for over 50 years, although the laws against them, like those against [[sodomy]], are still on the books in several states. However, because sodomy laws were struck down as unconstitutional by the U.S. Supreme Court in ''[[Lawrence v. Texas]]'', the laws against fornication would also be unconstitutional as was recognized by the [[Supreme Court of Virginia]] in ''[[Martin v. Ziherl]]''.