It’s arguable there should never have been a ban on marijuana. That said, I think what’s important to the psyche is the relaxation of the ban. And there can be many good reasons why the ban should have been relaxed and how many people will benefit more than be harmed by relaxing the ban. The point is it was a vice we were all told it was wrong for so many (sometimes fabricated) reasons. The ban was relaxed. The same is happening with gambling. It was once illegal, immoral, and even predatory. Now it’s available on your phone in every state, courtesy of sports books and prediction markets. The last serious prohibition left is prostitution. Something which is legal and regulated in some countries and strictly not illegal in others. But in the United States, outside of a few particular counties, is illegal.

There are reasons it is illegal. Some of these reasons are good. Some are bad. Some are documented through rigorous study, but some harms are largely the byproduct of its legal status. Remove the incarceration of women for solicitation, and the risk of getting labeled a sex criminal, and some of the harms go away. But as we sail past broad legality for intoxicants and gambling, prostitution is the only vice still left standing. And many are arguing it should not be illegal. I don’t know that I agree or disagree because many people are disingenuous in their arguments around vices. Some argue for it because they don’t want to be arrested (as a customer or provider), rather than a genuine appeal from reason or data. And some argue against it because of their desire to impose their morality on others. It doesn’t invalidate the arguments, but the motivation makes it harder to judge the argument as honest. I don’t know the correct answer, but given the track record of those that profit from the sale of (often women’s) bodies are rarely the women sold.

It will be a chip shot to the green for Only Fans or a dating site to offer in-person or compensated dating experiences. Ashley Madison was a scam, but how long before a dating app with low prospects allows women to start advertising? (I say women but the same applies to some men, where economic vulnerability has made some men exploitable by other men). After all, this ‘disrupts’ dating, something “we all know isn’t working.” And I can imagine the excuse would be that policing this in practice is impossible, anyway. That many people just use these apps to ‘hook up.’ Like gambling, once the apps move in, and there are investors, it will be legitimate. It will be a business out in the open. And if you don’t like it, it’s because you are a prude or not ‘with it.’ People will do it, so why not offer it through the convenience and safety of an app?

Would prostitutes be better off, if they were able to openly solicit? I could see benefits, such as screening out out violent clients. Although, given the track record of safety in the hands of tech bros in other contexts, it might be a ban is voided by quickly creating a new account. I could see women more willing to file rape charges against clients because they don’t fear arrest. However, I could also see apps black-balling any woman who did file such charges. These disruptive companies are often more subtly exploitive than the pimp. Uber has been accused of manipulating fares to give the impression a living is possible as an Uber driver, but the reality may be a below minimum wage grind. Uber doesn’t need to exploit them, the drivers exploit themselves by chasing smaller and smaller payouts. How well silicon valley would treat sex workers is practice may be as exploitive as the worst pimp.

How likely do I think this is? Ironically, more likely because of the Epstein scandal. With so many establishment men, including David Brooks, Larry Summers, and Bill Gates being seen around Epstein, it could perversely make the prohibition of seeking sex workers a class-based rule. (Not that I have any indication any of these men actually did anything illegal or even unsavory – other than their association with a vile person). If you’re wealthy and elite, it’s accepted, but if you’re not, it’s prohibited. And as we all know, the United States is a country full of temporarily embarrassed billionaires. Why shouldn’t Trey Schifflet from Beckley, WV (a made up persona) be treated to the same earthly delights as his favorite president? Trey, who sits at home smoking weed and playing Call of Duty in his parents’ basement. Who burns up his Uber money gambling through Kalshi on sports. Who has found every dating app frustrating because he’s not a “high status male.” Who looks at his jaw or his height or the slightly more pronounced ears as the real reason he’s passed over. And nothing to do with the fact his app profile features his sucked-in, two-pack abs, and actually calls women ‘females.’

And we live in a world where the pursuit of money is almost a dispensation for wrong-doing. Even Sam Bankman-Fried has has a moment or two of seriously attempted rehabilitation, including possibly restarting his exchange (in name only) FTX. The President and his family are openly grifting using meme coins. It’s not a bribe if you squint your eyes so hard they close. Whose family business works with and may become a prediction market, like Kalshi, to openly take bets. Who has turned the pardon into a coin-operated dispenser, giving pardons to wealthy, well documented, easily convicted, and unrepentant fraudsters. The pursuit of profit is sacred, beyond question, and insured against prosecution if the potentate is given his vig.

In this environment, where subsidizing illegal activity is just “disruption,” why should this last taboo stand? To be fair, there are many who want to see the laws prohibiting sex work repealed because they see women whose exploitation is facilitated through the risk and fear of arrest. Or whose avenues for legitimate work are proscribed because of a prostitution related conviction. But if the tech bros smell blood in the water, or rather money to be made, they will pounce on your resistance to legalizing prostitution. Posts on X, undisclosed sponsorships to creators, and AI slop comments, will drive you to feel bad for believing it should be illegal. It should be just as easy as Uber to order up a date. After all, it’s just like Only Fans, but IRL. It will happen anyway, so in-person access should be legal and available through an App, with the App taking a cut to profitably cover expenses like payment processing and client screening. And once Andreessen-Horowitzes of the world are behind it, it will be a legitimate enterprise, an investment, a company to IPO, and much more than simply pimping and profiting from the vulnerable.