Victomless Crimes

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Victimless Crimes

An individual 's right to life , freedom and property should be the basis of law . Since these rights point towards what others ought not to do they are commonly referred to as negative rights . Most importantly every individual has the right not to be subjected to any form of physical force . With this regard , it would be unrealistic to to claim the existence of a crime without both the victim and the perpetrator . In the absence of force against an individual or violation

of property right , we may not claim a breach of law . In other words , for an action be labeled a criminal offense , it must involve the violation of an individual or a group of individuals ' rights . A victimless crime is therefore a misnomer

When an individual commit acts which are harmful to himself or herself his or her action may be termed as immoral , not illegal . Every individual human being needs freedom to make choices , deliberate and accept the consequences so they may live and flourish . In some instances , only the actor knows how a particular action is beneficial in the full context of his or her life because it is him /her who stands to face the consequences assuming that his or her action does not violate any other person 's rights (Siegel 2008 ) However , individual actions with regard to rights affects the society . The social web dictates that every individual or group action to some extent influences the society If rights are respected , every individual has the capacity to recognize that other individuals also possess moral right to exist and are as independent as oneself . Whether an act should or should not be criminal ought not to be exclusively determined by the social effects of an individual 's actions

Let us consider drug abuse as a victimless crime . In normal circumstances , we may say that it is harmful for an individual to abuse drugs even though we may not deny that these drugs often have appropriate uses . Considering that every human individual has the moral capacity to judge what is helpful or harmful to himself or herself , it does not make much sense for other people to dictate on this freedom of choice . Who actually should determine instances where one is allowed to use drugs for elation or to ease pain ? Is being elated a crime ? One may consult medical doctors , counselors or psychologist on the effects of drugs but the decision to use them depend on the individual because it is he or she who makes the final decision on what is best for him or her

To limit the capacity of human mind through sanctions is to ban rational thought . This in the long run has the capacity to destroy or undermine human life . Infringement on human thought and choice is carried out by various governments through instituting bans on victimless acts such as price fixing , drug use (abuse , prostitution and such like actions . This do not...