Headscratchers / Star Trek Voyager S 1 E 5 "The Cloud"

• Paris describes having his pocket picked on Earth; when Kim expresses incredulity, Paris says "they just do it for the tourists; they give it back." Give what back? In a cashless society, what did the pickpocket steal?
  • More to the point, how are there any pockets to pick?
  • This is just one of a long tradition of Star Trek being very confused about its supposedly cashless society. Here, we can assume that it's not money they're stealing, since it doesn't exist in the Federation, so it must be items. But why would pickpockets want or need to steal items if they don't need money to buy them? Well, perhaps it's just a prank, as evidenced by Paris's assertion that "they give it back." Or perhaps pickpockets are after things that are unavailable to the general public. We do know that various objects and substances are either illegal or have restricted access to Federation citizens.