Decriminalization or decriminalisation is the reclassification in law relating to certain acts or aspects of such to the effect that they are no longer considered a
crime
In ordinary language, a crime is an unlawful act punishable by a state or other authority. The term ''crime'' does not, in modern criminal law, have any simple and universally accepted definition,Farmer, Lindsay: "Crime, definitions of", in Ca ...
, including the removal of criminal
penalties in relation to them. This reform is sometimes applied retroactively but otherwise comes into force from either the
enactment of the law or from a specified date. In some cases regulated permits or fines may still apply (for contrast, see:
legalization
Legalization is the process of removing a legal prohibition against something which is currently not legal.
Legalization is a process often applied to what are regarded, by those working towards legalization, as victimless crimes, of which one ...
), and associated aspects of the original criminalized act may remain or become specifically classified as crimes. The term was coined by anthropologist Jennifer James to express sex workers' movements' "goals of removing laws used to target prostitutes", although it is now commonly applied to drug policies. The reverse process is
criminalization.
Decriminalization reflects changing social and
moral views. A society may come to the view that an act is not harmful, should no longer be criminalised, or is otherwise not a matter to be addressed by the
criminal justice
Criminal justice is the delivery of justice to those who have been accused of committing crimes. The criminal justice system is a series of government agencies and institutions. Goals include the rehabilitation of offenders, preventing other ...
system. Examples of subject matter which have been the subject of changing views on criminality over time in various societies and countries include:
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abortion
Abortion is the termination of a pregnancy by removal or expulsion of an embryo or fetus. An abortion that occurs without intervention is known as a miscarriage or "spontaneous abortion"; these occur in approximately 30% to 40% of pre ...
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breastfeeding in public
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drug possession, and
recreational drug use
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euthanasia
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gambling
Gambling (also known as betting or gaming) is the wagering of something of value ("the stakes") on a random event with the intent of winning something else of value, where instances of strategy are discounted. Gambling thus requires three el ...
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homosexuality
Homosexuality is romantic attraction, sexual attraction, or sexual behavior between members of the same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality is "an enduring pattern of emotional, romantic, and/or sexual attractions" to pe ...
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polygamy
Crimes
Polygamy (from Late Greek (') "state of marriage to many spouses") is the practice of marriage, marrying multiple spouses. When a man is married to more than one wife at the same time, sociologists call this polygyny. When a woman is ...
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prostitution
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public nudity
Nudity is the state of being in which a human is without clothing.
The loss of body hair was one of the physical characteristics that marked the biological evolution of modern humans from their hominin ancestors. Adaptations related to h ...
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steroid use in sport
In a
federal
Federal or foederal (archaic) may refer to:
Politics
General
*Federal monarchy, a federation of monarchies
*Federation, or ''Federal state'' (federal system), a type of government characterized by both a central (federal) government and states or ...
country, acts may be decriminalized by one level of government while still subject to penalties levied by another; for example, possession of a decriminalized drug may still be subject to criminal charges by one level of government, but another may yet impose a monetary fine. This should be contrasted with
legalization
Legalization is the process of removing a legal prohibition against something which is currently not legal.
Legalization is a process often applied to what are regarded, by those working towards legalization, as victimless crimes, of which one ...
, which removes all or most legal detriments from a previously illegal act. It has also been noted that while some acts have been decriminalised, such as homosexuality and adultery, others have increased in their criminalization, such as incest.
Drug-use decriminalization topics
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Legal history of cannabis in the United States
In the United States, increased restrictions and labeling of cannabis (legal term ''marijuana'' or ''marihuana'') as a poison began in many states from 1906 onward, and outright prohibitions began in the 1920s. By the mid-1930s cannabis was regu ...
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Cannabis legalization in Canada
Cannabis in Canada is legal for both recreational and medicinal purposes. Medicinal use of cannabis was legalized nationwide under conditions outlined in the Marihuana for Medical Purposes Regulations, later superseded by the Access to Cannabis ...
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Colorado Amendment 64
Colorado Amendment 64 was a successful popular initiative ballot measure to amend the Constitution of the State of Colorado, outlining a statewide drug policy for cannabis. The measure passed on November 6, 2012, and along with a similar meas ...
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Marijuana Policy Project
The Marijuana Policy Project (MPP) is the largest organization working solely on marijuana policy reform in the United States in terms of its budget, number of members, and staff.
Its stated aims are to: (1) increase public support for non-pu ...
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Psilocybin decriminalization in the United States
The movement to decriminalize psilocybin in the United States began in the late 2010s, with Denver, Colorado becoming the first city to decriminalize psilocybin in May 2019. The cities of Oakland and Santa Cruz, California, followed suit and de ...
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Law Enforcement Against Prohibition
The Law Enforcement Action Partnership (LEAP), formerly Law Enforcement Against Prohibition, is a U.S.-based nonprofit organization group of current and former police, judges, prosecutors, and other criminal justice professionals who use their ex ...
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Legality of cannabis
The legality of cannabis for medical and recreational use varies by country, in terms of its possession, distribution, and cultivation, and (in regards to medical) how it can be consumed and what medical conditions it can be used for. These ...
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Timeline of cannabis law
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Responsible drug use
Responsible drug use maximizes the benefits and reduces the risk of negative impact psychoactive drugs cause on the lives of the user. For illegal psychoactive drugs that are not diverted prescription controlled substances, some critics believe tha ...
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War on Drugs
The war on drugs is a global campaign, led by the United States federal government, of drug prohibition, military aid, and military intervention, with the aim of reducing the illegal drug trade in the United States.Cockburn and St. Clair, 1 ...
See also
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Drug liberalization
Drug liberalization is a drug policy process of decriminalizing or legalizing the use or sale of prohibited drugs. Variations of drug liberalization include: drug legalization, drug re-legalization and drug decriminalization. Proponents of drug ...
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Drug policy of the Soviet Union
The drug policy of the Soviet Union changed little throughout the existence of the state, other than slowly becoming more repressive, although some differences in penalties existed in the different Union Republics.
However, the prevalence of drug a ...
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Legal issues of anabolic steroids
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Legalization
Legalization is the process of removing a legal prohibition against something which is currently not legal.
Legalization is a process often applied to what are regarded, by those working towards legalization, as victimless crimes, of which one ...
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Liberalization
Liberalization or liberalisation (British English) is a broad term that refers to the practice of making laws, systems, or opinions less severe, usually in the sense of eliminating certain government regulations or restrictions. The term is used m ...
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Alcohol prohibition
Prohibition is the act or practice of forbidding something by law; more particularly the term refers to the banning of the manufacture, storage (whether in barrels or in bottles), transportation, sale, possession, and consumption of alcoholic be ...
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Prostitution in Canada
Current laws passed by the Parliament of Canada in 2014 make it illegal to purchase or advertise sexual services and illegal to live on the material benefits from sex work. The law officially enacted criminal penalties for "Purchasing sexual se ...
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Prostitution in Rhode Island Prostitution in Rhode Island was outlawed in 2009. On November 3, 2009, Republican Governor Donald Carcieri signed into law a bill which makes the buying and selling of sexual services a crime.
Prostitution was legal in Rhode Island between 1980 a ...
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Decriminalization of sex work
The decriminalization of sex work is the removal of criminal penalties for sex work (specifically, prostitution). Sex work, the consensual provision of sexual services for money or goods, is criminalized in most countries. Decriminalization is d ...
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Public-order crime
In criminology, public-order crime is defined by Siegel (2004) as "crime which involves acts that interfere with the operations of society and the ability of people to function efficiently", i.e., it is behaviour that has been labelled criminal ...
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Sex worker
A sex worker is a person who provides sex work, either on a regular or occasional basis. The term is used in reference to those who work in all areas of the sex industry.Oxford English Dictionary, "sex worker"
According to one view, sex work i ...
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Sodomy law
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Timeline of LGBT history
A timeline is a display of a list of events in chronological order. It is typically a graphic design showing a long bar labelled with dates paralleling it, and usually contemporaneous events.
Timelines can use any suitable scale represent ...
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Unenforced law
An unenforced law (also symbolic law, dead letter law) is a law which is formally in effect (''de jure''), but is usually (''de facto'') not penalized by a jurisdiction. Such laws are usually ignored by law enforcement, and therefore there are few ...
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Victimless crime
A victimless crime is an illegal act that typically either directly involves only the perpetrator or occurs between consenting adults. Because it is consensual in nature, whether there involves a victim is a matter of debate. Definitions of vi ...
References
Criminal law legal terminology
Drug policy reform
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