For Your Own Good

My latest at the Partial Observer. Excerpt:

Moreover, so-called vices vary in their effects from person to person. Person A may spend more time and money at the slots than Person B, but Person B is the one with the gambling problem. Two people may drink the same amount each day, but only one has a drinking problem. The same activity can affect or influence people in a variety of ways, and the law has no way of knowing when something will benefit one person but harm another. This is why it is best to prosecute direct harm done to others and their property, rather than outlaw activities that possibly might harm oneself and only indirectly harm others.