Although I have no quarrel with illegal offenses, there are some "crimes" which are victimless, and make me wonder if they should be considered worthy of prosecution. Most of these offenses are within the Public Order Crimes category and are considered victimless because no harm is done to others and all parties willingly consent. Crimes such as gambling, drug possession, and certain public order offenses do no harm to others and yet are commonly enforced and prosecuted.
Gambling is defined as, to risk loss in a game or bet, and can be anything from a coin toss deciding who will pay for lunch to high stakes poker in Las Vegas, NV(merriam-webster.com). This is truly a victimless crime because the decision to wager ones own possessions or income is solely up to the individual. Throughout the history of the United States gambling has gone through waves of being legal and regulated, to being illegal. In some states, such as nevada, it is still legal and used as a way to enhance the economy, while other states only endorse games such as the California Lottery as legal gambling and still require you to be eighteen to play. However due to its history of having ties to organized crime groups most forms of gambling have remained illegal, although not strictly enforced, throughout the United States.
In 2009 an estimated 26.4% of all peoples in some kind of correctional system are solely there for drug related offenses(drugwarfacts.org). Although it is obvious that the drug use and distribution are commonly linked more serious crimes such as larceny, assault and even 2homicide; the act of using and selling drugs is victimless because no harm is done to any other individual and the those participating are consenting to the partake in the act. Prosecution and sentencing of these non-violent criminals helps put our jails and prison systems to close to 100% capacity and overwhelms our probation departments that could use the space and time for more serious offenders such as those who have committed assault and battery or a robbery.
