How America Became a Nation of Legalized Vices and What It Costs Us

Las Vegas has long been known as Sin City for its 24/7 access to all kinds of indecencies. But America is quickly becoming Sin Nation.

As President Donald Trump noted while discussing prediction markets in the Oval Office last month:

"The whole world, unfortunately, has become somewhat of a casino."

Why it matters: Once-forbidden vices — weed, gambling, and porn — are no longer confined to back alleys or the desert. They are ubiquitous, digital, and spreading at a pace that has outstripped the country’s social and regulatory guardrails.

Governments didn’t turn a blind eye to most of this behavior. They encouraged it. We’re scaling sin in real time.

This shift in American governance, both at the national and local levels, didn’t happen all at once — or get kick-started by a singular moment. It unfolded through a thousand small steps: one app launch and regulatory retreat at a time.

New York Times columnist Ross Douthat framed our "more immoral society" this way:

"As our laws have become less moralistic and more libertarian, addictive behaviors have increased."

Substacker Derek Thompson highlighted a 2023 Wall Street Journal poll in which Americans said patriotism, religion, having children, and community all mattered less than in previous years. The only metric that mattered more? Money.

How America’s Addiction to Vice Took Hold

The biggest factors that ushered in our more addicted, money-hungry America:

1. The Rise of Legal Marijuana

Not long ago, you might have gone to jail for using pot, much less selling it. Now, it’s legal for a vast swath of Americans and serves as a primary tax engine for nearly half the country.

• 24 states plus Washington, D.C., have legalized recreational marijuana.
• 40 states allow medical use.

Last month, the Trump administration ordered the reclassification of medical marijuana as a Schedule III drug, moving it from alongside heroin and ecstasy to the same category as steroids and ketamine.

Since the first legal sales began in 2014, states have collected nearly $25 billion in cannabis tax revenue, according to the Marijuana Policy Project. In 2024 alone, states set a record with $4.4 billion in revenue. California alone topped $1 billion.

2. The Explosion of Online Sports Betting

There’s no reason to visit a sportsbook when you have one in your pocket. That lack of friction is destroying the lives — and arguably the morality — of countless young Americans, even as it fills state coffers.

• More than half of American men ages 18–49 have an account with an online sportsbook, per a Siena College Research Institute poll from last month.
• 63% of bettors said they’d wager $100 or more in a single day.
• 31% reported having someone express concern about their sports betting, up from 23% last year.

A UCLA study found that bankruptcy rates and debt collection amounts rose in states that legalized sports betting, with young men in low-income areas hit hardest.

Prediction markets have raised the stakes beyond sports. While their founders claim they’re not technically gambling, the public and some state prosecutors disagree. Their purview now extends to gamifying global chaos, including betting on war outcomes.