Decriminalisation

For most forms of behaviour, criminalisation is ineffective or even counter-productive, encouraging people to reach for forbidden fruit. However, decriminalisation may be understood as meaning that a behaviour is harmless, which is often not the case. For example, the decriminalisation of cannabis in Canada has led to an upsurge in demand, scarcity and the revival of the black market. Cannabis is undoubtedly harmful to health, especially mental health, and should be discouraged by the sort of measures that have brought down smoking so dramatically. Another example is adultery, which is no longer criminal anywhere in Europe; in the permissive society it is widely seen as not mattering very much, yet it can destroy families and even lead to suicide. I have been led to think about this by reading the letters of Sylvia Plath. It seems clear that the adultery of Ted Hughes led directly to her suicide (and that of Assia Wevill, although he never married her). And yet society honoured him by making him Poet Laureate and a member of the Order of Merit. Poetic ability is just a knack with words, and somebody can be a brilliant poet and a horrible person.