Legalization Defined

Legalization is a term used in the law applications to refer to the actual removal of a restriction or prohibition upon an action or item that is not currently legal under the extent of statutes or regulations.

To legalize something in particular, such as behavior, action, or item simply means that the issue in question is simply being lifted from being prohibited or restricted. Legalization may often be confused with the legal term of decriminalization, which actually removes the criminal charges from a particular action, though not necessarily the laws or statutes associated with that action or item.

Legalization is typically associated with what are often referred to as victimless crimes. Victimless crimes are defined as actual violations of laws though the evidence does not indicate that any person was actually harmed in the process of violating such law.

Therefore, this can include laws involving public order, controlled substances, prostitution, gambling, and pornography. In the United States, the concept of legalization is most commonly associated with the legalization of certain drugs or controlled substances, most notably marijuana.

Legalization, particularly in the case of illicit drugs, is often is very debated issue in both politics and social applications. To legalize certain drugs could prove to have certain benefits, though it will also provide for certain negative aspects as well. Therefore, the debate about the legalization of drugs will prove to be a difficult issue to prove, in regards to both sides.

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