LEGALIZATION OF CRIMES AGAINST THE MORAL ORDER - RESULTS FROM THE 1995 UNITED-STATES SURVEY OF GAMING AND GAMBLING

A survey of 1,514 American adults revealed a substantial range of supp ort for legalization of selected substances, sexual activities, and ga mbling behavior perceived by some as potentially threatening to the mo ral order. Alcohol use, gambling, and smoking received majority suppor t for legalization, whereas substantial minority support was found for gentlemen's clubs, prostitution, and marijuana use. There was little support for legalization of cocaine. Support for the legalization of t he various ''offenses against the moral order'' was found generally to vary by five factors: (a) gender-males with higher rates than females , (b) race-Whites with higher rates than non-Whites, (c) religion-Cath olics with higher rates than Protestants, (d) age-young and middle-age d adults with higher rates than the elderly, and (e) region-West, Nort heast, and Midwest with higher rates than the South.