The Legalization of Prostitution and Drugs

Many kinds of mood and mind altering drugs are legally available in the Alodarian Empire. Naturally, these have a bad effect on one's body and mind over a long period of time, but frequently this isn't of great concern to your typical adventurer. You see, these people have access to the kinds of cash that are necessary to buy various spells such as cure disease, neutralize poisons, or regeneration. With that kind of power, the very wealthy can always reverse the deleterious effects of their drug habits (and as long as they don't do it too often, they probably won't even run the risk of seriously offending the gods). The people from normal society, however, are a different matter.

Since most people can't afford that kind of magic, it is obvious the continued use of nearly any physically addictive drugs will eventually turn the users into non-productive members of society. Would it then not be in the best interest of society to outlaw such use? The answer, many may be surprised to learn, is no.

As a matter of practical concern one can see that making such drugs illegal puts them into a classification of objects which are both desirable and profitable. That is, some people are drawn to try the forbidden, but more importantly, once the drugs are illegal they become highly profitable. It is a general rule of thumb that if there is an obscene profit to be made, the way to do it will be found. The price of something like a joint of marijuana might cost a few dollars as opposed to a few pennies. Less than a dime's worth of cocaine becomes hundreds or even thousands of times more valuable. Since cocaine is addictive, once hooked, the user is frequently beyond making moral decisions for themselves, let alone for the people around them. The need for the drug will make their decisions for them. If that means breaking the law to obtain the drug, then so be it.

It was prohibition that really set up organized crime as big business for the first time in U.S. history. Today, it is mostly the profits from illegal drugs that maintain such illegal empires. A similar thing happened in the Alodarian Empire when the shortsighted tried to legislate a certain kind of behavior. They didn't realize just how profitable they were about to make these drugs, and therefore, didn't realize they were also magnifying the desire to sell them a thousandfold. It even became desirable to sell such addictive drugs to any and all who could be convinced to try them. This included, for the first time, selling drugs to children. (After all, they could always learn to steal what they needed to pay for more drugs).

Eventually, mostly due to the influence of one of the Lawful Evil former emperors within the Truestone Artifact, the wisdom of the "necessary evil" of not making drugs illegal prevailed. Remove the profit incentive and you remove 9/10ths of the problem. Actually have the government supply the drugs themselves, at cost, and totally eliminate any profit incentive, further reducing their use. Finally, set some unrealistically harsh penalties for supplying drugs to children (such as the death penalty or astral confinement) and the major problems simply vanish. Ironically, the cost to do this was less than the cost to fight the losing war against the use of these drugs. Eventually, equilibrium was achieved where the drug use was slightly higher than before it was made illegal, but considerably lower than it was at its maximum height. Furthermore, through a program of information disseminated through the Imperial guard about the truth (with no lies or misrepresentations) about physically addictive drugs, their use continues to dwindle, though the use of non or less physically addictive drugs such as alcohol and marijuana is somewhat higher.

Today, within the empire, an adult may easily obtain alcohol or marijuana from bars, public bathhouses, or the like, while more physically addictive drugs may be obtained from your local apothecary. (Average cost, about $0.10 to $5.00 per drink or joint, depending on the establishment you frequent).

Prostitution, at one time, had a similar history. Being made illegal by the short sighted people who couldn't see the long term consequences of their actions, prostitution was driven underground to where the seedier side of society used it to turn a high profit. This made prostitution a dirty and dangerous business. Again, eventually a darker variety of wisdom prevailed. You simply can't legislate the morality of others. [And the suggestion that sexual behavior is immoral to begin with holds less sway on this planet than it does (did?) on Earth.] Furthermore, making prostitution legal had several effects. First, being a prostitute no longer carries certain anti-social connotations. Second, it is above board and therefore cleaner and safer. As such, it is possible to run such a business legally and to pay taxes on it. This adds a considerable chunk of change to the Imperial coffers. (From the annual tithe on incomes, don't you know.) Finally, as a socially more respectable option, certain standards were called for and developed.

Today, within the empire, prostitution is a licensed profession requiring a two-year degree. Many young girls and/or runaways have the realistic option to enter a house of prostitution with only the cloths on their backs, or without them, for that matter. (Even if they are under age, they may stay there, being looked after by the older women as part of their (the older women's) formal training. Once they (the younger girls) come of age, these "former kids" may remain for training or leave to make other arrangements, perhaps with the aid of their adoptive (prostitute in training) mother). There, the trainees can study health and hygiene, sexual technique, rudimentary psychology, birth control, and economics. After obtaining their two-year degree and license, they work off their reasonable debt to the house until such time as they may leave. Naturally, they are always free to leave and try to repay their debt in any other manner if they so desire it. The final result of all this is two fold: One, legal prostitutes help care for young run runaways, the health and well being of their customers, and provide a necessary psychological and/or sexual outlet for society; and two, a substantial revenue is generated which is used by the empire for the benefit of all citizens in general.

If she (or he) is a hard worker, and if they save their money and/or invest it wisely, after 20 years of earning about $75,000 per year (750 gp/year), the prostitute can comfortably retire at the relatively young age of about 40. (This already assumes they paid off their training by working between the ages of 16 to 20. [Orlantia has 400 days/year, so 16 is actually 17.6 Earth years, and this is the age of consent]. Oddly enough, a special provision was made to allow such prostitutes to buy their way out of PLEBES service with money and/or services for the armed forces. [PLEBES service is the two-year compulsory service each citizen normally goes through between the ages of 18 and 20. Actually, some young women do become prostitutes for a time just to avoid the service since they feel the possibility of going to war and fighting to be an alarming alternative to having sex for money, and they'd rather do that]. I guess some general thought it a good idea along the way, and that option became common law. Thus, roughly speaking, living frugally on $20,000 a year and saving and investing the other $55,000 a year for 20 years brings us to a retirement fund of $1,400,000 after calculating the return on their investments. Of course, this also assumes no children, though many, if not most prostitutes do have several children as well as an adopted one, and we all know how expensive kids are. I would therefore make a rough guess that less than a third of the $1.4M remains, leaving $450,000. And if they have invested it wisely (perhaps in a dozen different businesses for no banks or interest are available in this society), a return of 10% is not uncommon (and many of their customers do help them invest it wisely for at least some of them are pretty impressive business men). Thus, when the prostitute retires at about the age of 40 to 50, their annual income (without touching the principle, so to speak) is about $45,000 per year. That's pretty good, isn't it?

By the way, in case you are wondering, a prostitute would have to earn about $200 a day to achieve this. Higher quality prostitutes may charge this or more for a single customer (that's 2 gold pieces or better), while others may orally please as many as 10 customers at 2 EP (about $20) for their services). Naturally, prices will vary, often being higher in large cities and lower in smaller villages, so the higher quality prostitutes usually gravitate toward the larger cities.

Finally, most prostitutes within the empire are associated with, or are members in good standing, with the church of Aphrodite. (Other love/sex deities may also be worshipped, but Aphrodite is the most common of these within the Empire). This socially acceptable religious standing for prostitution is another reason that arguments for its legalization were more convincing.

Now, if you are at least 18 years old and you are not easily offended by material of a clearly sexual nature, and if you are interested in reading about it, follow the link below. Otherwise, I highly advise you to stop. This is the only link to this page, and you should NOT follow it if you are a minor or easily offended.

Linda's House Of Pleasure, A House Of Prostitution