No doubt. Something else to consider in all this is that sin has its own "rewards" and they usually aren't all that rewarding. While some folks are happy in their sin, at least for a time, usually in the long run they aren't or won't be. It seems that many Christians seem to forget this.
Illicit sex can lead to a string of shallow, meaningless relationships, heavy drug use and addiction can lead a person to ruin in several different ways, gambling addiction can lead to financial ruin, etc. They all provide immediate gratification in some way, but usually aren't excessively harmful if indulgence is limited and/or controlled. It's when vices become habits/addictions that the "rewards" really begin to manifest themselves in problematic ways.
When we have laws punishing people under various aspects of these behaviors, the law is merely "piling on" another level of problems to people or in many cases is the biggest problem that person has had to date regarding the vice. While some people whose lives may already be wrecked because of their excessive vices might eventually benefit from the state intervention in the long run, most are just merely hurt by the state's intervention in ways far more injurious than their vices have been. For instance, the casual drug user whose not an addict can have his life radically altered for the worse because of a drug arrest, while the over-the-edge hard-core addict might benefit from state imposed discipline in rehab.
All so true! Great post.
I believe you are thinking way too narrowly about the consequences and even the vice, for that matter. The consequences are nearly always shared by a circle of people around the person-of-vice. And in nearly every case, the guilt is not just one person guilt. The legal problems of the recreational drug user has as much to do with the producer and seller of the drugs as it has to do with the end user. You have to make it tough on the end user, the easier guy to catch, so that you can find and stop the bigger problem -- the dealer.
An abuser doesn't start as an abuser. And never ever are the consequences only his to bear. You have to hope he doesn't drive or operate machinery under the influence. You have to hope he doesn't beat or neglect his children and other family members. You have to hope he doesn't break the law with violent behavior or destruction of property or theft. You have to hope he is holding down his employment obligations so that he doesn't become a welfare issue. On and on and on and on. Those who want to legalize all drugs tend to put blinders on. They also assume control is adequately maintained when a person chooses to hand over the healthy functions of his brain to some controling substance. But by definition the individual has freely given up control.