If there was one illegal thing you would legalize...

[HockeyGod]

Isnt gay marriage legalized in some states already?

So are other things pointed out in this thread.

[Prefect Mos]

Prostitution.

This one might seem odd coming from me as I don't have a lot of interest in it, Full disclosure I have hired one for a hand job Just to do it in my never ending quest to experience life , I mostly wanted to talk to her and get her opinions but for some reason she wanted to provide service wile doing so. I even feel weird in strip clubs (only been twice ) both seemed to be more degrading than i would like to see, but the girls at least seamed happy, and a few of the girls that worked there were in my Vampire larp, and said that they loved working there.

However, we do plenty of things for money, and plenty of near sex things for money.. legalizing and regulating will only make it safer, and open up less degrading and more variety of services offered. People say that this would weaken the American family.. I say no, but im not a big believer in monogamy. what I am a big believer in is American freedoms to decide for ourselves as long as safety concerns are looked after by a third non interested party such as the goverment, that insures that standards are meant. It works great in Nevada and Amsterdam.. why not here?

[Kate]

I personally feel Cannibals vs ciggarette usage comparison would show weed being the better option for one reason
Even if "one pure-spliff vs 1 cigarette" (same filter) revealed toxin levels of the spiff being worse - the quantity and regularity smokers consume would make up for it - in my opinion.

If i had the power to "unban" something it would be a tossup between bestiality and weed .. practically if i wanted to lift both - then removing the ban on weed would be the most sensible as it would be easier when more of the population is of the mindset of

"yeah dude ... freedom brother - let live - live dude ... Im cool - they are cool we are cool - all is cool if we choose to be cool about stuff. No more 1984 big brother stuff - we are beyond that now" :)

[desert ashes]

Gay marriage. 

My second choice would be cannabis, but, I can't help but feel (some) States are already shifting in that direction a lot quicker than they are for gay marriage. 

[Xenophile]

Just one thing?

I guess illegal downloading (of movies, games, series, tv-shows, etc) would be on my list. I can't thing of anything else, not right this instant anyway, that's illegal in my country, Sweden, that should be legalized.

[Stan']

Well the problem with legally downloading copyrighted games and movies would be that the big publishers would just stop funding developers, and thus the quality of the medium would go downhill at the speed of light.  There'd be no more films of Avatar quality, no more games of Uncharted and Metal Gear quality, it'd be back to guys making things in their bedrooms, 2D side-scrolling platformers that look right at home on the old Atari's.

Do you really think Activision -- the greediest bastards in the world -- would keep on making Call of Duty games if they didn't make any money on them?

[Callie Del Noire]

Well the problem with legally downloading copyrighted games and movies would be that the big publishers would just stop funding developers, and thus the quality of the medium would go downhill at the speed of light.  There'd be no more films of Avatar quality, no more games of Uncharted and Metal Gear quality, it'd be back to guys making things in their bedrooms, 2D side-scrolling platformers that look right at home on the old Atari's.

Do you really think Activision -- the greediest bastards in the world -- would keep on making Call of Duty games if they didn't make any money on them?

Considering they have lost a handful of guys from Infinity Ward in the last few months, I doubt the next one will be as good.

[The Baron]

That has nothing to do with being illegal and Comedy Central just being cowards.

I thought it was ultimately Viacom (the company that controls Comedy Central) making the decision? I could be wrong on that.

As for my one thing, cannabis here in the U.S. Unoriginal but it's unoriginal for a reason.

[Xenophile]

Well the problem with legally downloading copyrighted games and movies would be that the big publishers would just stop funding developers, and thus the quality of the medium would go downhill at the speed of light.  There'd be no more films of Avatar quality, no more games of Uncharted and Metal Gear quality, it'd be back to guys making things in their bedrooms, 2D side-scrolling platformers that look right at home on the old Atari's.

Do you really think Activision -- the greediest bastards in the world -- would keep on making Call of Duty games if they didn't make any money on them?

I disagree. Can you tell me if you noticed a change in the quality of movies and video games when illegal downloading was at it's height?

People will still go to movies, own the DVD's and buy the internet-demanding games that they love enough to support and encourage the production of quality goods.

Do you honestly believe that companies would give up on games and movies if they became less valuable? No, that would encourage a more efficient market with cheaper production and supplying methods, like Steam and Spotify where the price is noticeably cheaper then the packaged goods.

Illegal downloading will encourage efficiency. I mean, without illegal downloading, would we have iPods with a 160 gig hard drive on the market?

[Stan']

You disagree with me?  Do you REALLY think Activision will continue publishing games if no one is paying for them?  What about EA?

Or what about Universal making films?  Fox making TV programmes?

Don't be so naive.

[Jude]

I agree that downloading pirated material should be legal, but providing the download for others should not.  No sense in punishing people too poor to afford the content with massive legal fees and settlements, just make it to where they can't attain the illegal data to begin with and the problem is solved without beating up on the poor and ignorant for using a simple file sharing programs.

However, I sincerely doubt that if all pirating was made legal people would continue to purchase electronic content.  It would inevitably and obviously lead to a decline in quality, because developers are supported (in part) by video game sales, therefore devote their life to making games.  Take that away and they will need to get other jobs and thus have less energy, time, and passion to devote to making groundbreaking experiences.

Don't believe me?  Play any game that has user generated content and check out the average levels created by the official team and the levels created by modders.  The quality difference is obvious.

[MercyfulFate]

Marijuana, of course.

[badasskicker]

In some country's Marijuana is legal. You can go to that  country and enjoy  freedom.

[Caela]

Gotta join the gay marriage folks. With a divorce rate that is quickly climbing up over 50% I don't think any of us straight folks can really make a claim about the "sanctity" of marriage with a straight face and it's not as if you could force a priest/pastor/rabbi to marry someone. I've never seen a good reason to deny anyone the legal rights and protections that come with marriage as a legal institution.

[Nico]

Same sex marriage, and freedom of speech.

(sorry, both is equally important to me)

[Paladin]

I have to say same sex Marriage, and Weed.

(Sorry, but they do have equal imprtance)

[MercyfulFate]

I have to say same sex Marriage, and Weed.

(Sorry, but they do have equal imprtance)

While both are important, people die, are jailed, and lives are ruined daily because of marijuana prohibition. While same sex marriage not being legal is wrong, people aren't dying or going to jail by the thousands because of it.

[Argent]

While both are important, people die, are jailed, and lives are ruined daily because of marijuana prohibition. While same sex marriage not being legal is wrong, people aren't dying or going to jail by the thousands because of it.

I'd go a bit wider and say 'globally decriminalize homosexuality'. With the deepest respect, perhaps playing misery poker isn't the most constructive way to think of theses issues, but if you want to go that way, the number of people who are being killed, tortured or imprisoned, simply for being is pretty staggering and horrifying. As much as I want my full rights as a citizen of the country of my birth, I'd gladly put them off a decade or two if gay people in Iraq, Jamaica, Uganda and dozens of other countries had a chance to live under the protection of the law.

And that isn't to say that I disagree with legalizing marijuana either. Not because I'm particularly fond of it but because the tax revenue could do a lot of good on the local, state and federal levels. There is something inherently amusing to me about funding better schools through a stoner tax.

[Trieste]

Drugs in general. The funds we put toward the war on drugs, the so-called crime barons, all of that would be needless if we would just allow recreational drugs to be administered legally by professionals.

[MercyfulFate]

I'd go a bit wider and say 'globally decriminalize homosexuality'. With the deepest respect, perhaps playing misery poker isn't the most constructive way to think of theses issues, but if you want to go that way, the number of people who are being killed, tortured or imprisoned, simply for being is pretty staggering and horrifying. As much as I want my full rights as a citizen of the country of my birth, I'd gladly put them off a decade or two if gay people in Iraq, Jamaica, Uganda and dozens of other countries had a chance to live under the protection of the law.

And that isn't to say that I disagree with legalizing marijuana either. Not because I'm particularly fond of it but because the tax revenue could do a lot of good on the local, state and federal levels. There is something inherently amusing to me about funding better schools through a stoner tax.

I agree, but since nothing can be globally decriminalized (The UN could I guess, but it would be nothing more than a symbolic gesture with no enforcement) so I'm just focusing on the US for what I said.

[Hunter]

Handguns.

The government seems to think that people shouldn't be able to defend themselves, their families, etc.

[MercyfulFate]

Handguns.

The government seems to think that people shouldn't be able to defend themselves, their families, etc.

I've had the gun ban argument with countless people, and what I've found is that gun bans do NOT prevent or lower almost any crime anywhere it's been done. It's hard to sift through the BS though, because both sides skew the statistics.

However, Washington D.C. here in the US banned handguns, and gun crimes rose significantly. It happened in Australia and other places, while places like Switzerland have tons of guns, and very low gun crime rates.

It's not the guns, it's the people. Take away the guns from violent people, and they'll get illegal guns or use other weapons.

[Vekseid]

Do you have stats on Australia? I had read those numbers were creatively calculated and the ban rather had little material effect. Restricting the possession of anything that cannot be detected and traced to source easily (uranium and other nuclear related radiological materials, for example) is a difficult prospect in the long run.

I'm pro-gun ownership, though I do believe it should be the right of establishments to ban guns on their premises, and there are people who cannot be trusted with a weapon that can be otherwise trusted in larger society.

[Hunter]

I'm pro-gun ownership, though I do believe it should be the right of establishments to ban guns on their premises, and there are people who cannot be trusted with a weapon that can be otherwise trusted in larger society.

+1

[Trieste]

The only thing I can say about gun ownership is that I have personally heard and seen more guns and gunfire in an anti-gun state than I ever did in a right-to-carry state.