It's not the opposite. The opposite would be banning the activity at multiple levels (like the war on drugs). Criminal liability is a very thin lever from the

It's not the opposite. The opposite would be banning the activity at multiple levels (like the war on drugs). Criminal liability is a very thin lever from the government - it obviously is hugely material to the person charged but charging would only occur in a small fraction of cases and the final judgement would likely be well below the maximum. For instance, if I drive 10mph over the speed limit and hit somebody and kill them, I may be criminally liable. However the percentage of people in this set charged (and convicted) in such situations is not high.