When I arrived at the University of Chicago in the fall of 1998, I was asked what courses I might like to teach. I suggested Regulation of Vice, and it is to the credit of the university that, without further ado, and without any questioning of my motives, the course duly appeared on the spring schedule. Regulating Vice has grown out of that course.

Each spring, during the first class meeting of Regulation of Vice, I provide a few disclaimers, which are appropriate here as well. I am not a lawyer, nor am I a physician, and I often am wrong. (I am not wrong about not being a lawyer or physician, however.) Please do not mistake anything that appears in Regulating Vice as legal or medical counsel; it is not. This book is about public policy toward vice, not private policy, and you should beware of basing your personal vice-related choices on anything in these pages. If what you really need is treatment for a vice problem, then please seek help right away. Regulating Vice, alas, will not be of assistance.

Calling an activity a vice is not considered to be a form of praise; nor is referring to a person as vicious regarded as a compliment. In this book, however, vice and vicious are used as neutral terms, intended neither to denigrate nor commend.