Sinful conduct is not necessarily criminal. Although they may give rise to criminal behaviour, such passions as envy, pride, lust and hatred are not themselves crimes. In 1957, the expert committee established in Britain to report to Parliament on homosexual offences and prostitution declared there must remain a realm of private morality and immorality that is not the law's business. On the contrary, to emphasise the personal and private nature of moral or immoral conduct is to emphasise the responsibility of the individual for his own actions. I had not heard of this report and the subsequent classic debate between Prof H.L.A. Hart and Judge Sir Patrick Devlin when I was appointed to a committee set up by the Board of Health at the request of the minister to inquire into and report on drug dependency and drug abuse in New Zealand.
Sanctions consist of rewards and punishments.
It may be unnecessary to create legal sanctions against conduct that earns widespread social disapproval because other sanctions are often more effective. A policy of relying chiefly on legal measures needs ample justification for several reasons. One is the heavy cost of detecting, trying and punishing offenders. A second is that other sanctions may be more effective. A great worry of parents nowadays is that their children may be experimenting with drugs before they have gained much understanding of the risks, such as the development of drug dependence.