The government first floated the need to legalise soccer betting in 2000 amid growing concerns over illegal gambling and soaring budget deficits.

非法赌波日益猖獗，政府财赤又日益严峻。政府于2000年首次提出有需要把赌波合法化。

The Government remained neutral about whether to legalise soccer betting.

政府对是否通过赌波合法化，立场中立。

On Friday, the Government unveiled a consultation paper seeking public opinion on whether to legalise soccer betting.

政府在周五发出咨询文件，寻求公众意见，以决定是否实行赌波合法化。

||1: OAKSTERDAM university, a self-proclaimed “cannabis college” in Oakland, California, has been called everything from “the Princeton of Pot” to “the Harvard of Hemp”. ||2: Its founder, Richard Lee, has become the public face of the movement to legitimise marijuana. ||3: A paraplegic, he uses the drug for medical purposes, which is legal in California and 15 other states and in the District of Columbia. ||4: He also runs a dispensary for medical marijuana and sponsored a 2010 ballot measure in California to legalise marijuana completely in small amounts, whether medicinal or recreational. ||5: That measure failed narrowly, but the idea of legalization continues to win converts.

||1:奥克斯特丹大学自称是加利福尼亚州奥克兰市的“大麻学院”，也先后被人称为“大麻罐的普林斯顿大学”和“大麻的哈佛大学”。||2:它的创始人理查德?李在大麻合法化运动中已经是公众最耳熟能详的人。||3:他是个截瘫患者，需要用大麻来治疗，这在加利福尼亚和其余15州，以及哥伦比亚特区是合法的。||4:他同时也经营着一所药用大麻的药店，2010年在加利福尼亚州还发起了小剂量使用大麻合法化的投票统计运动，不管是用于医学还是娱乐活动。||5:这次统计几乎失败，但大麻合法化的观念却继续赢得支持，人们纷纷改变立场。

||1:Yet even the lobbyists are careful not to call too loudly for the lifting of all strictures.||2:The American Gaming Association says it takes no position on whether more states should legalise gambling.||3:DISCUS claims not to mind whether states run their own liquor stores, as long as they are willing to “modernise” them by allowing tastings, long hours, a big choice and so on.

||1:然而即使游说团也是小心谨慎，没有过分要求消除所有限制。||2:美国博彩协会说，对是否有更多的州实现赌博合法化不发表任何立场。||3:美国蒸馏酒理事会声称不会介意各州是否经营烈性酒商店，只要他们愿意放宽限制，允许举行品酒大会，延长营业时间，开放更多的选择等等。

Before it can reach such lofty heights, however, Japan must legalise casinos.

对日本而言，要获得如此巨额盈利的前提是是赌场合法化。

He may be able to brush off the councillor from the UK Independence Party who saw the floods as divine retribution for the prime minister’s successful campaign to legalise gay marriage.

卡梅伦此前顺利通过同性恋婚姻合法化提案，英国独立党议员认为这是上帝对他的惩罚，对此卡梅伦或许可以选择漠视。

Almost half of American states have taken steps to legalise cannabis. The federal government should follow

美国几乎一半的洲都已经步入了大麻合法化的大门。联邦政府也应该紧随大流。

In 2003 Massachusetts became the first American state to legalise gay marriage.

2003年马塞诸塞州成为美国第一个让同性婚姻合法化的州。

Reforms could also legalise political parties, which may give conservative Pushtuns a political alternative to fighting.

改革必须是政党合法化，这或许会给保守的普什图族人另一个打击的政治目标。

Back in 1972 a proposition to legalise the drug was defeated almost two-to-one.

回溯至1972年，一条有关于毒品合法化的提案以几乎2比1的比例被否决。

The American Gaming Association says it takes no position on whether more states should legalise gambling.

美国博彩协会称，在是否更多的州应该实现赌博合法化这一问题上，它既不支持也不反对。

Last September, he famously addressed the Conservative party conference with a plan to legalise gay marriage before 2015.

去年9月，他在保守党会议中通过了了一个在2015年之前实现同性婚姻合法化的提案。

Four decades later there is growing momentum in the US and Latin America to abandon the fight and legalise drugs, or at least marijuana.

四十年后，美国和拉丁美洲越来越趋于放弃斗争，使毒品（至少是大麻）合法化。

He promises to introduce a professional civil service and legalise the vast mass of informal businesses.

他承诺会引入专业的行政机制，将大量的非正规企业合法化。

He points out that Sweden’s Pirate party, which wants to legalise internet filesharing, has won a seat in the European parliament.

他指出想要使网上文件共享合法化的瑞典盗版党（PirateParty）已经在欧洲议会赢得了一席之地。

Uruguay’s Congress voted overwhelmingly to legalise gay marriage, the second country in Latin America, after Argentina, to do so.

乌拉圭国会以压倒性多数支持同性婚姻，这是继阿根廷后第二个支持同性婚姻的拉丁美洲国家。

Greece’s government recently abandoned plans to legalise private universities, after three months of protests.

希腊政府在遭到三个月的反对之后，最近放弃了私立大学合法化的计划。

It is welcome that California is now debating before a referendum on November 2nd, whether to legalise marijuana (see article).

现在，加州对是否使大麻合法化的讨论受到了欢迎，11月2日，针对此事就要进行全民公投。

One woman’s controversial campaign to legalise prostitution

一名女子受到争议的卖淫合法化运动

A proposal to legalise marijuana in California was defeated, but a measure to streamline the state’s dysfunctional budget process passed.

一项关于加州吸食大麻合法化的建议未被批准，但一项简化本州失调的财政预算工序的措施获得通过。

That is why The Economist continues to believe that the least bad policy is to legalise drugs.

这就是为什么经济学家杂志始终认为最不坏的办法是将毒品合法化。