^^^^^^^^^

Yeah, it's an issue of harm reduction, which gets some short shrift in this country, although it's very effective.

Also, if I ride a bike drunk and cause you injury, I'm fairly sure I'd still be liable in a court of law. So, really, it's just taking away the disincentive of jail, but leaving the other disincentives in place.

(As an aside, most prostitution is now enforced in terms of harm reduction -- tolerated in certain areas of town, with large efforts made to go after anyone violent or dangerous. See MacCoun and Reuter's Drug War Heresies for a full discussion, if you're interested.)