Legalize Prostitution

Culture & Society Forum

In the past three years police have been cracking down on prostitution. How it used to be confined to just one area, now it seems to be going on in other neighborhoods. It is like the police chase the prostitutes from one neighborhood to another. This proves the war on prostitution is a failure. Besides that what happened to individual freedom anyway?

I take it you've been busted before

i was disgusted / appaled at the thread's name but dekka00 , you just made me laugh, i was so angry but just had to smile,

*serious*
just an awful thread to start.....
no comments except that dekka00 made the biggest point , (sorry frank)

Individual freedom? They're breaking the law. The police have every right to prevent them from soliciting in public places. That's why people should apply for licenses to operate a brothel. My theory is - you can't get rid of them, they've been around for centuries. But what you can do is get them off the streets.

I think thats right too, as long as they are in a brothel out of my way, where I don't have to see them, I have no problem with prostitutes. But street-walkers, I hate them and the men (and i guess woman too) that cruise the street trying to pick them up.

Normal woman walking down the streets at night in these areas get harrassed and threatened and it is real scary to be approached at night by a guy in a car, especially if you are alone and especially if that guy has a certain something in mind for you.

I also think (well I know of some here in Australia) brothels prostitutes are "better" than street walkers, most brothels here insist on HIV/ AIDS, etc testing every three months, all clients showering before obtaining services and have a body check for obvious dieases, all sexual activity is protected, and the girls have bouncers availabel to get rough clients out.

It is a much happier and healthier environment for everyone involved and even those who aren't involved.

I agree with you, Schmiggens. Brothels are better for everyone concerned. Good for the public, because you can drive down the street and not see women soliciting themselves. Good for the clients, because they can access the services they want in privacy, and be ensured that they can be safe. Good for the prostitutes themselves, because they have protection from rough or violent customers.

Street soliciting should still remain illegal, but I think that it should be easier for people to obtain brothel licenses. Still maintain the high standards, but don't charge such high taxes, because that decreases the safety.

sorry, but WTF???
how can you both LADIES talk about these sort of things that its just a nothing a normal thing??
i dont care if its been around centuries and centuries, but the point is just awful, just degrading to women , i would have expected men to make this thread go further but....

wasn't gonna say anything but my blood boiled to its limits and started bubbling, dont care you calling me sexist pig, male chovanist (spelling?) but i stand by my point that it degrades women.

I personally think it's more degrading to men than women, but if women are willing to sell something that men want.... hey, supply and demand


you won't see me there though.

Well Imran that is not the only thing that degrades women, you know but listen it's here and there is no way to get rid of it.............. we have a BIG problem with this sorta thing in LA and no matter what's been done to stop it, it just shows up again.................. so having said that , I agree with Neo and Schimiggens................ at least keeping it confined within a brothel we don't have to see it............. and it is safe for both parties!

Let's all move to Nevada where Prostitution is legal and red-light houses are green-lighted. I have no quarrel with health inspected pro lovers of either sex. It's a method of earning an above average income and compares to topless [and some bottomless] dancers. These people work plenty hard and deserve every dollar they make. If drugs are involved, then I disapprove, because drug induced behavior is bad bad stuff. But if the pros are drug free I think it is no different than high income notables doing commercials [which I think is much worse.} or Martha Stewart {Millionare-ess} making more money on inside info. I rest my case.

In San Diego County, they passed a law that gives them the power to seize your car. You have to pay blue book to get it back. I just don't want to see prostitutes on the streets. I don't want a red light district anywhere near my home either.

I was going to stay out of this discussion but I am compelled to post.
I had a few friends who worked in the sex industry. Two of them are dead now. And this was before AIDS became a threat. One of the girls was only a teenager, my age at the time. She was working the streets because she wanted money and she had a an alcohol problem. She moved to Portland and was murdered.

One of my other friends was in the same situation, plus a drug addiction. She was really well paid. She worked in New Orleans half of the year. Eventually she shot herself.

I knew these women quite well. (no, silly not like that) They could not survive the horrible treatment and used drugs and alcohol to get through it. Unlike some of the others I knew who worked the streets.

If prostitution was a legal and regulated industry, they would not have been allowed to work in it.

I think prostitution should be legal and regulated. It is your body and you get to decide if it is right for you. Women should never be forced to work in the sex industry, and many are. There are many women and men who like having sex and I am sure they would love to get paid for it, legally.

If the industry were regulated there would be less of a health issue, mandatory testing. The workers would be honest and not rip off their customers. And the amount of women that would have drug and alcohol problems would decrease significantly. It would not be legal to work in the industry if you were chemically dependent.

Unfortunately prostitution is illegal. Which means that the majority of the women working in the industry are chemically dependent and/or are being forced (physically/mentally/chemically) to continue working illegally on the streets.

Legal prostitution would be run like any other business. It would look just like a hotel. There is a place and a time for the activity.

Prostitution as it is now, lets workers out on the streets and the police just move them from neighborhood to neighborhood. At least until they run out of neighborhoods. It attracts drug trafficking, mugging and abuse. There are people doing it in cars, in alleys, in bushes and the like all over your neighborhood.

I know because my neighborhood has been having this problem for over a year.

Legal prostitution allows those who WANT to work in that profession to do so.

Illegal prostitution enslaves drug addicts to a life they probably would not have chosen. The money is fast and easy, so are the drugs.

Prostitution is illegal in America because:
the police get job security ($$)
the lawyers get $$
the courts get $$
the bail bonds get $$
the newspaper has a story ($$)
the johns (customers) get busted (again losing $$)
Property gets seized ($$)

It is worth way too much money as something illegal.

Kooka, the point of legalizing prostitution is to get it off the streets and regulated.

Homosexuality is not illegal.

And drugs are LEGAL, have you never watched TV? Prilosec, Claritin (now over the counter by the way), and on and on and on...

You see, she was a smart business woman. Her product was sex. Society looks down on her because she sells the most taboo product on the planet, sex.

If she sold the latest diet fad she would be a genius, but no she chose something else.

And she is dripping in $$ because of it.

I am really tired of the double standard in our world that sys women cannot do this legally, but have to marry a rich man (or many men) to achieve wealth. Isin't marrying for money the same as legal prostitution? I think it is.

And just to add another facet to this thread, what about all of the women who are selling themselves on the internet. You can watch but cannot touch. They don't have sex with anyone, yet that is illegal in most places.

The sex industry is a multi-billion dollar industry. When you make something a taboo, you will get rich off of it.

Look at pop star Madonna, she has made a huge amount of $$ over her career off of taboo. Smart business woman that she is.

Outsider those aren't the drugs I'm talking about. I'm talking about the current illegal drugs, like pot, that people want to legalize.

And legalizing prostitution doesn't make it right. If getting corrupt morals off the streets means legalizing what is currently immoral, then we've stooped to a whole new low.

Hey, let's legalize everything else we consider immoral. Maybe it will just go away since it's now legal. Hmmm... let's legalize half time at all ball games to include undressing.

Let's legalize streaking

Let's legalize naked commercials

Get my point?

Drugs made by a pharmaceutical are no less dangerous than street drugs. Nor are they harder to get. Sometimes it is easier to get them.

I don't see the harm in streaking. If you live in a snow region, you are just crazy. Nudity is not shameful.

Naked commercials routinely run in Europe.

Legalizing prostitution is no different than someone marrying and divorcing for money.

And Kooka, I am sure most of the fans at ball games would be in favor of undressing at half time.

Personally I prefer no sporting events, especially NAKED sporting events.

How is your post off topic? It looks on topic to me, as you were answering my post, which was also on topic... but ok. I see where you are coming from. We'll just have to agree to disagree.

Peaceful debate, that is the key, children.

On a more serious note, prostitution is something that cannot be eradicated. Everything has an equal and opposite. If there are faithful people, there would be unfaithful ones too. If there are righteous ones, there would be corrupts too. They only thing you can do is to move it out of the public eye, I think. It would be out of sight, out of mind. But you cannot remove it completely, I think.

I was off topicing about the drug thing.

I realize Kooka we have different opinions and I know why. You are coming at this from moral, black or white, right or wrong, stance. And I am coming from this in an ethical stance of gray areas, and how does my decision effect the big picture. I am not so sure that we disagree on the issue as much, as we disagree how to approach the issue.

And Adi, you are correct. It will never go away.

So how about making it as safe as possible for those who are in the industry and for those who are not.

alcohol is legal. If marijuana is illegal, alcohol should be illegal. It's way more dangerous and harmful to society than marijuana.

but, whatever. The concept of a law is pretty stupid anyway.

And the thing that really ticks me off the most is...

How come all of the half naked bodies and the suggestive innuendos about sex in the advertising industry are okay to sell products, but it's not okay to sell sex?

The adult industry is a 10 billion dollar industry. The cosmetics industry is approx. 20 billion.

So it's okay to use sex to sell products but not to actually sell sex? How does this make sense?

Btw very good point made by the previous person. I agee.
Firstly they don't arrest the porstitutes themselves, they arrest the people who use tham and its their body. They can do whta they want with it. Its like killing someone who attepted to commit suicide but failed. They don't do it anymore but its just weird. <ADVERTISEMENT REMOVED>

Outsider you couldn't have said it better............. in this country it is okay to use sex as a means to sell your products but it's not okay to sell sex............ I am sorry but in my opinion that is what they are selling!! As to the prostitution issue............... it is NOT going to go away people so get used to it............ I would rather have it controlled than hidden, it would be a lot safer for those involved if it were to be legalized, as it can then be controlled. The laws here make NO sense when the illegalize one thing but legalize another, that has the same effect. Dekka made a good point about it. Marijuana is illegal but alcohol, which is more addictive btw, is legal?? how stupid is that?? Also, prescription drugs which are more harmful than pot (ie Vicodin) are easier to get and prescribed as easily as tylenol............ I know because that is what my surgeon told me to take after my shoulder injury.............. if you guys want to ban drugs, then BAN them all............... get rid of prozac for bored housewives and zoloft, remeron, luvox and so on and so on............ don't just pick and choose as you see fit!!!! and homosexuality is NOT illegal Kooka, you might not like it but that does not make it illegal...........until you people learn to accept things that do not fit into your "okay" areas, this country is going to continue going to hell!!!!

just my 2 cents.................

well in Virginia, "sodomy" is technically illegal (homsexual or heterosexual.)



but how in the world would anyone catch you doing that?!

I supoose if the guy being sodomized complains to the police and the doctors find by examination that the person is telling the truth.

Personally, I find the very idea (of sodomy) disgusting.

Seek and ye shall get !

I think that there is a difference between what is considered by some to be immoral, and what is scientifically dangerous. Kooka, your point of view is that prostitution is immoral. That is the only reason that you have a problem with it. But by banning prostitution altogether, don't you see that is attempting to impose your values on the rest of the country, when clearly many people do not agree with you. You are perfectly within your rights to consider prostitution immoral, however people are entitled to participate in such activities if no harm comes to either party.

Drugs, on the other hand, cause death, brain damage, and other detrimental effects, and it is for this reason that they are ilegal. Still people choose to use them. Drugs harm our children. Prostitutes operating out of licensed and regulated brothels do not harm our children. So while it may be considered by some to be immoral, you will never completely eradicate it from your society, so why not attempt to control it. That is what legalised, licensed brothels are attempting to achieve.

I agree, my motto is always "do whatever you want, as long as it doesn't negatively effect anyone else" and as long as they are prostituting themselves on my front lawn, I have no problem with it. If you're not harming anyone (of if they WANT to be harmed, some people are into that) then live and let live.

But .......

Drugs don't harm children. Drugs don't harm anyone. It is the people who do the harm, not neccessarily the drugs themselves. And many would disagree that brothels DO hurt children.

We had a case here recently where a brothel was 500 metres down the road from a school and even though it did not operate AT ALL during school hours, the local community rallied against it and they had to move premises.

No you are not Dekka because we brought up the question of drugs as a comparison of prostitution!!! Good post btw

ok maybe im 2 opionated today but i have strong veiws on this one what i dont agree with is prostitutes standing on street corners its not nice bringing your child home and having to explain who they are and what they are doing and why there are men hanging around all the time it increases crime and makes the area bad however brothels im not against i think if it was done i a controlled area be it by a madam or whatever off the streets then who are they hurting

mrsdje well said and PLEASE there is NO such thing as too opinionated here!!!

I remember my sociology teacher telling me that heroin or marijuana was legal in UK now. Can any of my English compatriots confirm that?

It's legal to posess up to three plants for personal use in some states in Australia.

in West Australia, we can have 1 plant and 25 grams of dry weed (3 grams short of an ounce you buggers!!!!), in South Australia you can have 3 plants and 50 grams (i think) of weed. And in the Australian Capital Territory you can posess it smoke it, but you can't buy it or grow it.

Prostitution has been legalised in brothels in Queensland I think, and WA and Tasmania are in the process of making brothels legal and regulated. Street walking is illegal in all states.

Alright. Wwell my thoughts might surprise some of my peeps, but overall,
I don't think prostitution should be legalized. Personally, I feel it is
a slippery slope that leads to too many other evils.

Now I want to clarify my answer. First, I've always thought of sex as
something unique between two people. Being with someone you love is the
best feeling you can ever have. Even one-night stands are a personal, a
shared experience of spontaneous passion.

Someone earlier mentioned a 'high-class' hooker that racked in the money
with a certain clientele. That, I don't have so much of a problem with,
being a respectable business and all. It has to be done right though,
smart, with testing and the whole nine.

But the problem is those strung out junkies selling their a$$ for crack.
Some of them are 12 or 13. Or what about those small town girls and
boys who run away or otherwise end up in the big city to follow their dreams and
get roped into doing tricks for $20. Nothing's glamorous about servicing
the scum of the Earth in dark ally's for drug money. They risk bodily
harm, disease, and eventually death. What's the percentage of hookers
that clean up and live a normal life? I'm not talking about these 'Pretty
Woman' call-girls with hearts of gold that invest their money into
stocks. They represent a very small part of the whore community. I'm
talking about the toothless skanks whacked out of their minds who have
cashed in and are waiting for the next high or the sweet release of
death, whichever comes first.

Now just imagine if it was legalized. We would have a whole new rung of
bottom-feeders that would send the current lot strait to the sweet bye
and bye. What's easier, breaking into the hooker with the heart of gold
category, or the crack money skank category?

Unfortunately there are too many people that would become the latter.
Those people, as funny as it might sound, would ruin it for the high-class
hooker. Sure, when you get down to it, there isn't much difference
between people who sell their junk. Everyone looks the same in the dark.
But the desperate, the drug attics, the homeless and so many more would
use this as a means to get money quick despite the obvious risks. We
are already in an epidemic with STD's running rampant. Casual hookers,
those who would only turn a few tricks to make ends meat, would
introduce more and more disease into society.

Prostitution is the oldest profession. It isn't going anywhere anytime
soon. The laws currently in place are there to make sure it doesn't get
out of control. If the government wanted to, they would crack down even
more. They know it goes on and turn a deaf ear to it more than you think.

So long they don't close the strip bars, I'll be just fine.

Out.

-HECK!

Heck-As previously stated: If prost. were legalized the houses would be inspected clean, girls examined regularly, and all prostis would have to be in that kind of house. All controlled and regulated by the govt. which would get taxes that heretofore were not forthcoming. Nobody on the streets or Alley's. So the houses would get most of the patronage and the rest would be forced out of business.

In the UK weed has just been demoted from a Class C drug to a Class B drug, which has done FA to it's legalisation.

If you are under 18 you can still get arrested for carrying it on the streets, although few policemen carry this through.

If you are over 18 you will be arrested only if you have more than 1/4 of an ounce, or look like you're supplying, otherwise you'll get it confiscated.

It is illegal to grow cannabis, although you can now smoke it in you're own home if you are 18+ legally.

In my experience though, the police will just ignore you when you are smoking pot, unless you're causing a disturbance. Many a time have I been quietly skinning up on a park bench when a policeman walks past, but they don't do nothing about it.

The only ever occurence I've heard about the police maintaining the laws on cannabis was when one of my friends was given an official warning, and thrown in a cell for 9 hours, for having 1/2 a JOINT in his pocket (about £1.25's worth of cannabis). Although it is highly possible he was high on ketamine at the time!

I am not going to touch that one.

Come on, Adi, as if I want to operate a brothel. It was just one of those highly amusing facets of our judicial system. 'It is clearly corrupting to smoke marijuana, so we forbid it, but feel free to access the services of a professional whore! Or be one yourself! Or even better, manage a whole house of them!'

You know I wasn't being serious, Neo. I know nothing like that is going to happen. And yes, laws can be quite twisted if you think about their underlying logic, which is many times quite illogical.

You're not wrong. It is illegal to smoke or posess marijuana, but shops in Queensland are allowed to sell bongs and other pieces of pot-smoking equipment.

I think we've heard some pretty good arguments here in favor of legalizing prostitution and for that matter drugs - both are risky business, but so is getting in your car every day. Or allowing yourself to be seen in public where someone could be "stealing your idenetity" *gasp* . Ultimately risk is everywhere and it is the choice of the individual to take or avoid any given risk. Legalizing drugs leaves it up to the individual to decide whether or not to engage in that activity. What's funny is, it's already an individual decision, the only difference would be that in one world you get thrown in prison and in the other world, you just get a finger shaken at you. Removing the illegality from decisions like buying, selling & using drugs and prostitution would simply free up a bunch of prison cells and relieve a significant economic drain (support of the prison system), freeing our law enforcement to focus on more pressing matters like domestic violence, child abuse, extortion, black mail - you know, the things that put drugs & sex into the insignificant station in life that they truly occupy.

That being said, I wonder, are there any opponents remaining here? I'd like to hear what argument possibly still remains in the light of logic and reason. Because honestly it seems like no matter how many people agree on the above, nothing ever changes and those who are in a position to make a difference always receive these arguments with deaf ears. So I sure would like to see something positive come of discussions like this.

Well said, Sean. Couldn't agree with you more.

I just have one thing to say. Politicians that agree that drugs and prostitution should be legal should fight for their legalization.

no its not legal in the uk what has happened is it has been downgraded from a class b to a class c drug which puts it in the same bracket as tranqs and some painkillers what this means is that if you are caught smoking dope on the street you may not be arrested unless you are smoking near a school or such place however this new ruling changes from place to place in the uk and it is just a matter of where u live some police officers will arrest you if the mood !
and if the conservatives are voted into power this year this ruling will be reversed!

I have never seen ANYONE smoke tobacco through a bong, except when having a shotty (cannabis and tobacco at the same time).

Other pot-smoking equipment includes Hash Pipes (clues in the name!),
grinders (tobacco doesn't grind funnily enough),
digital scales (who weighs tobacco?),
tins or cases (especially for bud to be put in)

I think that speaks for itself . Why supply the gun without bullets??

oops sorry sandy read the first page and added a quick reply didnt see ur comment!

well speaker as a former smoker myself im glad i stopped and if it has half the affect of our latest dont smoke tabacco campaign im all for it

But there is such a bad public image on the subject of cannabis. If I was walking down a dark alley and a group of blokes came one way drinking lager and cider, and another from the other direction but smoking dope instead, I know which way I'd take, but most of society would go the other way, and most probably get beaten up by drunken louts.

It was only yesterday I overheard a woman talking on the bus about another woman's son,
"Well at least he's going to do something with his life, not just hang around on street corners smoking dope!"

The irony is, I knew the womans son, and he does smoke dope!

But my point is, she was completely wrong! I know plenty of people who smoke cannabis on regular occasions, and all of them are going to college or school and want to do something with their lives.

I don't know whether the common belief is that cannabis makes you stupid, or stupid people smoke cannabis, but I am neither of those, and I smoke cannabis quite often!

I have smoked cannabis pretty much every day of my life for the last about 6 years and I am not "wasting my life". I hold a steady job, have never had any problems with work, have good relationships with partner, friends and family, etc. It just comes down to "management".

I don't smoke before work, or things like that, mostly, I come home from a long day at work and have a cone. It is no worse than all the people out there who come home and drink a bottle of wine with dinner. I don't like the taste of alcohol, so I have a cone instead.

It is the people dealing on the street and the welfare cheats and people like that, they give drugs a bad name. Most drugs, don't cause problems.

I lived in a town where the hookers were walk the streets day and night, I myself have been propositioned a few times. I use to have to walk to work, I'd walk facing traffic, and people would go out of there way to try to pick me up. If we had a brothel in that town, Maby it would be safe to walk down the street again. IF it was made legal, then each state would recive tax monie off it, not to mention the fee they would make off the sales of licenses,But we all know that they make more $$$ off busting the Johns, takeing their Cars, selling them at auctions, then ticketing them..
Now for the Pot problem that everyone has been talking about..
Most drug dealers would be out of buisness if it became legal. Yes the states could tax the @ out of it, But they wouldn't make as much $$ as they do now off it by taking the property (houses,cars,boats) of the offenders and auctioning it off... But if they taxed it like cigarettes, maby it would work.. I don't beleve that Pot should be in the same class with Coke or Heroin. I have never herd of a pot smoker going on a rampage and killing everyone in sight. Most (not all)are too stoned to find their car keys so I don't see the problem there. If it became legal to smoke pot for anyone over the age of 21, then kids would find it harder to get.. Most of the hate crimes would be stoped, who wants to blow there high by hateing? I don't see it becoming legal in my life time, But it would be nice... Oh well, Thats my 2cents..

Wasn’t Reefer Madness a time period in the 20's when weed was made legal in Canada and it was this crazy era when people were getting raped and stuff?

I think it was more like 40-50's, but to you I guess that's all "the olden days"

It is the old days! I wasn’t even born
Anyways, I found this. It is the Reefer Madness play...

I think that marijuana should be legal because it is a person's choice whether they want to use it or not.

As far as the ladies on the streets, I have no problem with their being on the streets as long as they stay on public property like sidewalks.

wow.

I read that.

That's exactly what happened the first time I toked.

Amazing.

idiots...

This is my most fun and difficult topic to debate. I agree with the points made by both sides completely.

Against
I think that there is nothing more degrading to both the men and women, the purchaser and the puchasee. I think that selling sex puts you at a rung on the "moral ladder" just above rapists. I am admittedly disgusted with the concept of sex as a product or an industry. I have no respect for any of the parties involved.

However...

For the legalization of prostitution
It's the oldest profession and as long as men are willing to pay for it, there will be women willing to sell it. (supply & demand) Legalization of it, such as in brothels, allows for regulation which definitely makes the "trade" less dangerous and the profits can be taxed.

1.) Despite the fact that I have NO respect for a women who choses this occupation, I do have to agree that she has the right to do with her body as she feels fit. Now, this becomes a problem with the spread of disease but, again, if it were legalized, this risk could be minimized through regulation.

2.) A woman can have sex with hundreds or thousands of men if she wants...but let her charge money for it just once, and she's committed a crime? I'm sorry, but it seems like some men, who were the only ones making the laws way-back-when, decided that they didn't and shouldn't have to pay for sex.

3.) Porn is legal, providing it involves two adults. So basically, it is legal to have sex for money...as long as someone is taping the incident and selling it for profit. To just have sex with someone for money, with no camera crew or production company involved, is illegal. Now this just doesn't make sense.

Thanks Luke! I'm glad you liked that.
As much as it pains me to take the pro side on this issue, it does seem to be a simple matter of linguistics.

The hooker or working girl, instead calls herself "An Actress".
Her pimp goes by the title "director" or "manager".
The John calls himself an "actor".

The "Director" scouts out an "actor" looking to break into the field of adult entertainment. The "actor" pays the "director" to work as his "manager". The "director" tapes the "scene" between the "actor" and the "actress". And later, after taking his cut or "finder's fee", he pays the "actress" her salary. The film is sold for additional profit and nothing illegal has transpired.

Here is one more point that no one has made: a rich guy can get married and then give his wife money after having had sex with her - that's legal prostitution!

hahahah that's pushing it a bit but touché

how many "boyfriend-girlfriend" relationships are really just "john-prostitute" relationships. Guy buys girl fancy jewelry so he can get laid.

Seriously though. Like, these girls who are 22/23 and they marry some 80 year old billionaire. Ya...I'm sure they have a lot in common. I'm sure they're soulmates. Marring or sleeping with a man just beacuse he has money and buys you things, isn't much different than protitution.

Prostitution is LEGAL in parts of Nevada. There a few brothels there already. They are not in the major cities.

Porn is not always legal to film (I am only talking about consenting adults here). However, once filmed and packaged, it is legal to sell in most places in america.

And I do have to agree with you all. What is the difference with someone specifically charging outright for services as opposed to dating someone or marrying someone for money? I think the only difference is the name you give it. Prostitute, money digger, girlfriend/boyfriend, wife/husband. And then there's the famous mistress/affair that never works out.

I agree...Prostitution come in various guises...Girlfriend--Mistress--"Pay me up front"--"I'll do you a favor if you do me one." etc. etc. So what are the telltale signs of supposedly "love" prostitution?