# What activity would you engage in were it legal? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 18, 2008, 10:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-activity-would-you-engage-in-were-it-legal/445868 "2008-04-18T10:44:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![NajaNivea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/22d042/32.png) [@NajaNivea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NajaNivea)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2008, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-activity-would-you-engage-in-were-it-legal/445868/81 "2008-04-19T20:19:41Z")
[QUOTE=Really Not All That Bright] The sticky icky. [/QUOTE] True story! Re: great things about Oregon, see also: physician assisted suicide, no sales tax and (in Eugene) nekkid breasts on public display in the summer. Hooray for Oregon! ---
**Author:** ![plot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e9c0ed/32.png) [@plot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/plot)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2008, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-activity-would-you-engage-in-were-it-legal/445868/82 "2008-04-20T01:05:20Z")
I’d like to run numbers, set up as a non-profit betting co-op, just because I hate to see all my friends blow heavy cash on lottery tickets. ---
**Author:** ![goldenmean1975](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/7993a0/32.png) [@goldenmean1975](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/goldenmean1975)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2008, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-activity-would-you-engage-in-were-it-legal/445868/83 "2008-04-20T02:51:56Z")
I’d smoke more weed : ) ---
**Author:** ![Millit\_the\_Frail](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/51bf81/32.png) [@Millit\_the\_Frail](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Millit_the_Frail)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2008, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-activity-would-you-engage-in-were-it-legal/445868/84 "2008-04-20T03:19:00Z")
If it wouldn’t get me fired, grab some really strong pain meds from the hospital and try them out. (I guess I wouldn’t have to get them from the hospital if prescription drugs were just made legally available, though…hmmmm.) I seriously want to experience what it’s like to be heavily sedated, narc’ed up, put under anesthesia…without really needing it. It might be pretty cool, and I think it would make me a better nurse, as I could relate to something that just about all of my patients deal with. That said, I’d want it to be controlled again after a couple of experimentations–I have a bit of an addiction-prone personality and I know about the potential for abuse. Not a road I want to go down. ---
**Author:** ![Creaky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e68b1a/32.png) [@Creaky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Creaky)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2008, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-activity-would-you-engage-in-were-it-legal/445868/85 "2008-04-20T03:28:39Z")
Oh good lord, I was just thinking about this a couple of days ago. I have always, always, \*always \* wanted to heave a big-ass brick through a downtown plate glass department store window. Man, that would be satisfying. ---
**Author:** ![JimB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f4b2a3/32.png) [@JimB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JimB)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2008, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-activity-would-you-engage-in-were-it-legal/445868/86 "2008-04-20T03:31:20Z")
[QUOTE=LouisB] Rape, pillage, and burn. ( **just kidding about the rape** ) **Murder**. (not kidding at all) [/QUOTE] One must draw the line somewhere I guess. :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2008, 1:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-activity-would-you-engage-in-were-it-legal/445868/87 "2008-04-20T13:03:51Z")
[QUOTE=MadPansy64] Depends on your definition of cheaply, but well over $5. [http://data.opi.state.mt.us/bills/specsess/0699/BillHtml/SB0002.htm](http://data.opi.state.mt.us/bills/specsess/0699/BillHtml/SB0002.htm) [/QUOTE] Sounds like you would know. Did the fine really use to be a flat $5 or is that an Urban Legend that snopes missed? I found nothing on snopes, but a few sites that seemed to indicate that the $5 speeding tickets were legit. Jim ---
**Author:** ![VarlosZ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/d78d45/32.png) [@VarlosZ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VarlosZ)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2008, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-activity-would-you-engage-in-were-it-legal/445868/88 "2008-04-20T13:40:18Z")
There isn’t much I don’t do because it’s illegal – either I don’t want to do it anyway or its being illegal isn’t going to stop me. The only thing I can think of that really fits is tax evasion. I’d also do more drugs, but that doesn’t have to do with legality _per se_, but rather availability. My friends are all squares, so I’m not exactly swimming in coke and LSD. Ditto poker: in the last five years or so the NYPD has been on a poker jihad and it’s been nearly impossible for an underground poker room to stay open; for decades prior it used to be that the cops looked the other way as long as you weren’t causing any trouble. ---
**Author:** ![phungi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/phungi/32/395_2.png) [@phungi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/phungi)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2008, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-activity-would-you-engage-in-were-it-legal/445868/89 "2008-04-20T14:31:29Z")
Go on a boob-grabbing rampage, listening to [Still Ill](http://www.lyricsdepot.com/the-smiths/handsome-devil-tate.html) by the Smiths? > [@](#): > > All the streets are crammed with things > Eager to be held > I know what hands are for > And I’d like to help myself Just kidding, female dopers (this would violate personal rights)… I would creatively terminate a few individuals of my choosing, and offer assisted suicide services a’la Kevorkian to those who requested. Oh, I would bitch-slap GW Bush, and then kick him in the nuts. ---
**Author:** ![MadPansy64](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/dc4da7/32.png) [@MadPansy64](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MadPansy64)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2008, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-activity-would-you-engage-in-were-it-legal/445868/90 "2008-04-20T14:55:31Z")
[QUOTE=What Exit?] Sounds like you would know. Did the fine really use to be a flat $5 or is that an Urban Legend that snopes missed? I found nothing on snopes, but a few sites that seemed to indicate that the $5 speeding tickets were legit. Jim [/QUOTE] Never having gotten a ticket in Montana, I couldn’t tell you either way. I have heard the $5 fines were back in the '70s, when federal highway funds were tied to 55 mph hour enforcement. I’ve also heard that it wasn’t actually a fine for “speeding” but a fine for “mismanagement of resources” ie wasting gas. No cites, just pure gossip, and we all know how accurate that can be. ---
**Author:** ![Lust4Life](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ecc23a/32.png) [@Lust4Life](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lust4Life)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2008, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-activity-would-you-engage-in-were-it-legal/445868/91 "2008-04-20T16:01:45Z")
Rape,murder,planting explosive devices and torturing small fluffy animals.oh and flashing to old age pensioners. ---
**Author:** ![Ro\_Carter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/7feea3/32.png) [@Ro\_Carter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ro_Carter)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2008, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-activity-would-you-engage-in-were-it-legal/445868/92 "2008-04-20T16:11:44Z")
Drink (whenever, but not in conjunction with the next two), drive as fast as I want everywhere (not just the freeway, but on the little two lane backroads too), and mount some kind of gun or other device to the front of my car to get people out of my way. ---
**Author:** ![Lobsang](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobsang/32/4067_2.png) [@Lobsang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobsang)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2008, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-activity-would-you-engage-in-were-it-legal/445868/93 "2008-04-20T16:27:25Z")
Driving at sensible speeds. Drugtaking. ---
**Author:** ![freekalette](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/50afbb/32.png) [@freekalette](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/freekalette)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2008, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-activity-would-you-engage-in-were-it-legal/445868/94 "2008-04-20T16:31:21Z")
Oh, I just thought of another one! Something small and really insignificant, but that I’ve always wanted to do just the same… Roller skate through the mall at night. (Yeah, yeah, I know. Kids these days have those Heely shoes, but it’s not even close to the same experience. Besides, when the mall is closed it’s dark except for the backup lights, and there’s not a throng of shoppers to run over.) ---
**Author:** ![F.U.Shakespeare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aca169/32.png) [@F.U.Shakespeare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/F.U.Shakespeare)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2008, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-activity-would-you-engage-in-were-it-legal/445868/95 "2008-04-20T20:45:32Z")
I would use the account of of a major league baseball game without the express, prior written consent of major league baseball. I’m _dangerous._ Seriously, I might try marijuana, with the stipulation that legalizing it would also remove it from the list of _legal_ things prohibited for those of us who hold clearances. Due to bureaucratic inertia (and cultural tenets within the national security infrastructure), there is IMO a non-zero probability that it would not be removed. As norinew suggests, I would try it some other way than smoked. ---
**Author:** ![Lucky\_13](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lucky_13/32/13209_2.png) [@Lucky\_13](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucky_13)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2008, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-activity-would-you-engage-in-were-it-legal/445868/96 "2008-04-20T21:46:07Z")
I’d keep a flask of alcohol in my desk at work - working at the welfare office can drive you to drink. I’d also drink at the movies. Also, if pot was legalized, I’d score some for my mom and sis, who suffer from even worse migraines than I do. Hell, I’d grow my own. (They know about prop. 115, but none of us have taken advantage of it.) I’d also find out exactly what constitutes a “creative nuisance” and do that at the mall. (is it painting people’s faces? Guerrilla theater? I have no idea.) ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2008, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-activity-would-you-engage-in-were-it-legal/445868/97 "2008-04-20T23:05:20Z")
Buck naked in Walmart, recieving a blowjob while smoking a joint and high on shrooms. Fuck no, I don’t know where Housewares is. I don’t shop here. :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![VarlosZ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/d78d45/32.png) [@VarlosZ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VarlosZ)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2008, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-activity-would-you-engage-in-were-it-legal/445868/98 "2008-04-20T23:16:15Z")
Question: for those who actually have things they’d do if legal, what is it that’s keeping you from doing them now? Is it fear of the potential consequences of getting caught, the difficulty involved (e.g. inability to find drugs), or is it [snort, giggle] respect for the law? (I love the dueling Google ads on the bottom of this page. Two sites are selling drug testing kits, while one other is selling info on how to beat drug testing kits.) ---
**Author:** ![HeyHomie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heyhomie/32/207_2.png) [@HeyHomie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeyHomie)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2008, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-activity-would-you-engage-in-were-it-legal/445868/99 "2008-04-20T23:23:44Z")
Another vote for smoke pot. Actually, what’s stopping me isn’t so much the fact that it’s illegal. It’s the fact that its illegality means my employer can randomly test me for it. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2008, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-activity-would-you-engage-in-were-it-legal/445868/100 "2008-04-20T23:24:57Z")
[QUOTE=MadPansy64] Never having gotten a ticket in Montana, I couldn’t tell you either way. I have heard the $5 fines were back in the '70s, when federal highway funds were tied to 55 mph hour enforcement. I’ve also heard that it wasn’t actually a fine for “speeding” but a fine for “mismanagement of resources” ie wasting gas. No cites, just pure gossip, and we all know how accurate that can be. [/QUOTE] I [asked the question in GQ](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=464693) and I got some great answers. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-activity-would-you-engage-in-were-it-legal/445868.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-activity-would-you-engage-in-were-it-legal/445868.md?page=6)