THE POLITICAL CAREER of New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer crashed and burned last week over charges of his involvement in a high-priced prostitution ring. But if he had booked his adventures at the Biltmore in Providence, instead of the Mayflower in Washington, would he still be governor?

Among the dubious honors Rhode Island claims is that it is one of two states where prostitution behind closed doors seems to be legal. In Nevada, the sex industry is tightly regulated and taxed, and condoms are required by law for paid sex acts to reduce the transmission of sexual diseases. Here in the Ocean State, a loophole in the loitering law apparently makes it legal for people to buy and sell sex if they do it in private, and a kind of Wild West atmosphere prevails.

One does not have to search very hard on Google to discover that the johns who prey on young women are well aware of the state’s innovative approach to the world’s oldest profession. They tout Rhode Island as a land of opportunity, offer crude reviews of the charms and demerits of the “girls” who work in the city’s strip clubs, and share such consumer info as whether strippers provide “takeout service” and how much they charge. Last month, in a Channel 10 I-Team report by Jim Taricani, a young cameraman entered the Club Balloons strip club with a hidden camera. Within minutes, a dancer was offering him, for a price, two forms of sex.

Money pours into the sex industry in Providence, particularly in a booming vice district along Allens Avenue. If Rhode Island has a “center of economic excellence” these days, this is it. Seedy customers from all over New England flock to Providence for the action, and “alternative” newspapers both here and in Boston survive on ads from local ladies (and a few gentlemen) who, to put it mildly, do not go to extreme lengths to disguise what they are selling.

In short, the mothers, sisters and daughters of Rhode Island have to live in a crass state whose political leaders (mostly men) do not even care enough about protecting and honoring women to make prostitution clearly illegal.

Prostitution may seem like a victimless crime, akin to taking a toke on a marijuana joint. But, in truth, even more than gambling, it tends to exploit human frailty, coining money at the cost of ruined lives.

Governor Spitzer’s downfall is sad, and unquestionably horribly painful to his loved ones — and, perhaps, to his alleged 22-year-old prostitute, caught in the spotlight. But sadder still are the women who get hooked on crack or crystal meth, and resort to prostitution to feed their habits, entering a downward spiral of debasement and desperation. Sad, too, are those who acquire incurable diseases, some of them deadly, and transmit those to others.

The most tragic victims of prostitution may be young women, really no more than girls, many from Asia, who are brought to America under false pretenses, and forced to become virtual sex slaves.

The philosophical question that confronts Rhode Island is: Should we care at all about these fellow human beings, even though they may be weak and flawed, or do we want to establish a society that gives greedy people wider latitude to prey on them?

Long ago, most states, here in the Land of the Free, resolved that this kind of freedom tends to debase society and demean individuals. Accordingly, all but two states have come down on the side of seeking to restrain, rather than encourage, this admittedly inevitable form of vice. One of the two states, in wishing to make money from prostitution, at least regulates it. The other — Rhode Island — stands alone in simply allowing it to fester.

There is a wider cultural dimension to prostitution, too. A tolerance for vice breeds more vice — political as well as personal. When there are piles of loot to be derived from exploiting people’s weaknesses, those who have an interest in keeping the business flourishing have ways of coaxing the political establishment to go along. Police have learned to throw up their hands and say there is little they can do about prostitution behind closed doors.

One brave legislator, Rep. Joanne Giannini (D.-Providence), has tried to do something about this. Last year, she pushed through a law banning the trafficking of human beings for sexual purposes. This year, she has filed legislation to close the loophole in the loitering law.

At a hearing last week, state police officials and the attorney general’s office testified in favor of closing the loophole. The Rhode Island Affiliate of the American Civil Liberties Union complained that the bill would unfairly target women who are forced into prostitution, apparently oblivious to the notion that failing to prosecute prostitution leads to the abuse of countless more women.

On an encouraging note, House Majority Leader Gordon Fox (D.-Providence) said the House plans this session “to look very carefully at closing this loophole once and for all.” He, Mrs. Giannini and their fellow lawmakers would surely win the public’s gratitude if they finally ended this embarrassment to the state and its people.

Edward Achorn is The Journal’s deputy editorial-pages editor ( eachorn@projo.com).