Decriminalization Experiments Revealed Assumptions About Crime

In recent decades, some cities and countries have experimented with decriminalization—removing criminal penalties for certain behaviors and addressing them through public health or social services instead. This episode examines decriminalization experiments with drug use, sex work, and homelessness, asking what these experiments reveal about the relationship between law and crime. We trace Portugal's decriminalization of drugs, New Zealand's approach to sex work, and various harm-reduction strategies, examining their effects on crime rates, public health, and community safety. Using criminological research, public health data, and policy analysis, we explore whether decriminalization reduces crime or simply makes it invisible. This episode asks whether criminalization is necessary to control crime, or whether it's a choice that cities make—and what happens when they choose differently.