Oregon just learned a hard lesson about drug decriminalization

Sometimes human behavior surprises us. For example, many people think, or would expect, that legalizing prostitution would reduce sex trafficking. Alas, quite a few studies have found that when prostitution is legalized, it increases demand, and criminal groups and other unsavory characters move in, creating more supply with trafficked and abused prostitutes. “Countries with legalized prostitution are associated with higher human trafficking inflows than countries where prostitution is prohibited. The scale effect of legalizing prostitution, i.e. expansion of the market, outweighs the substitution effect, where legal sex workers are favored over illegal workers. On average, countries with legalized prostitution report a greater incidence of human trafficking inflows.” If legalizing prostitution indisputably reduced sex trafficking, it is likely more people would support it.

If decriminalizing hard drugs made places like Oregon safer and more pleasant places to live, more people would sign off on that change in the laws. Unfortunately, the opposite appears to be the case. Ryan’s report is chock full of jaw-dropping and disturbing figures and anecdotes.

[“Sounds good in theory” is a laugh line for a reason. We keep putting theories to the test and getting burned by them, and not just in the vices. We have seen cities get taken over by crime because progressive prosecutors have a theory about “decriminalization,” too. We need to get back to what works. It may not have been perfect, but it did a lot more to promote public good and order than the direction cities have taken in the last decade or more. — Ed]