Utah Governor: 'Porn Is a Public Health Crisis' (cnet.com)

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Utah Governor: 'Porn Is a Public Health Crisis' (cnet.com)

Posted by BeauHD on Tuesday April 19, 2016 @10:01PM from the public-health-crisis dept.

An anonymous reader writes: Utah Governor Gary Herbert said on his Facebook page: "Pornography is a public health crisis. The problem is rampant, yet it thrives in secrecy and silence." He emitted this thought on signing a resolution which says porn is "a public health hazard leading to a broad spectrum of individual and public health impacts and societal harms." In addition, it "perpetuates a sexually toxic environment." The resolution doesn't just stop there. It goes on to say "due to advances in technology and the universal availability of the Internet, young children are exposed to what used to be referred to as hard core, but is now considered mainstream, pornography at an alarming rate." The resolution says pornography "equates violence toward women and children with sex and pain with pleasure, which increases the demand for sex trafficking, prostitution, child sexual abuse images, and child pornography." It requests "the need for education, prevention, research, and policy change at the community and societal level in order to address the pornography epidemic that is harming the people of our state and nation." In the words of Gov. Gary Herbert, "Today's bills will start an open discussion." I couldn't agree more...

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slippery slope by Anonymous Coward · 2016-04-19 22:10 · Score: 5, Insightful

This is just the continuation of the "public health crisis" excuse to ban something people don't agree with. Smoking, Sugary drinks, guns, etc. The slippery slope continues.
1. Re:slippery slope by Coisiche · 2016-04-19 23:21 · Score: 1, Insightful
  
  Cigarettes haven't been banned.
  Not yet, but in UK it seems that the restricted areas keep proliferating. There's a park near my work that just put up "this is a smoke-free zone" signs, and this is in the open air. Ridiculous. But I digress.
  
  But we try to keep minors away from them.
  And there's the real problem. It was always the shop worker that was the gatekeeper to bar tobacco, alcohol and porn from minors. It wasn't a perfect system and everyone knew workarounds but it was good enough to appease the majority. Now the porn is readily available as digital media and there has been a scrambling around by legislators in all countries to have a gatekeeper but none of them seem to have proposed a reasonable and workable solution yet. They just cobble something together to win votes.
2. Re: slippery slope by Anonymous Coward · 2016-04-19 23:46 · Score: 5, Insightful
  
  You've got to be joking. Consider this: The air initially exists free of smoke, and cigarettes are not natural, this is the most basic state. I have the right to not be forced to breathe cancer inducing air from someone who chooses to pollute their own body with such things. If you are smoking in a common area, that is free to anyone, then you are taking away that freedom. I'm not taking away your freedom, the most basic state of the park was free and open air - you smokers are imposing your own will on that air and my body with no choice to myself.
  I used to smoke. I'm all for people being allowed to smoke. They should just be given a sealed phone booth in order to do it so the rest of us don't have our rights infringed.
3. Re: slippery slope by Thanshin · 2016-04-19 23:57 · Score: 2, Insightful
  
  You've got to be joking. Consider this: The air initially exists free of smoke, and cigarettes are not natural, this is the most basic state. I have the right to not be forced to breathe cancer inducing air
  I guess you don't drive cars nor buy anything online that would come to your home by truck, nor travel by airplane.
4. Re:slippery slope by MitchDev · 2016-04-20 00:09 · Score: 3, Insightful
  
  "At any rate, denying men access to porn will likely lead to more babies"
  Or more likely, more rape
5. Re: slippery slope by Imrik · 2016-04-20 00:18 · Score: 5, Insightful
  
  The problem is that a lot of smokers think its a good idea to smoke anywhere they are allowed to smoke, regardless of who may be nearby.
6. Re:slippery slope by Imrik · 2016-04-20 00:20 · Score: 3, Insightful
  
  They've all been restricted to some extent, with attempts made to expand the restrictions.
7. Re: slippery slope by BarbaraHudson · 2016-04-20 00:27 · Score: 3, Insightful
  
  Because smokers stink. Even 100 feet away, you still stink. You just don't notice it because, like farts, you've become used to your own smell.
  
  --
  "Transparent" is a shit show that trades on every stereotype going. A man in drag is NOT a transsexual.
8. Re:slippery slope by KGIII · 2016-04-20 00:38 · Score: 2, Insightful
  
  > Personally I'd like to see a total ban on all smoking tobacco.
  Not to worry, that's just your inner petty tyrant trying to be let free. Fortunately, you and your "there ought to be a law" ilk are *usually* just laughed at and openly mocked. I suppose next you'll be wanting to ban all sex, except for the purpose of procreation and only in the missionary position? We might as well try that whole banning alcohol thing.
  'Cause, you know, banning is effective and your need to control other people is insatiable. "Stop doing things I don't like!"
  Disclosure: I do smoke cigars but you'd be unlikely to actually witness me smoking unless you were in my home. Can't have me enjoying my cigars now, can we?
  
  --
  "So long and thanks for all the fish."
9. Re: slippery slope by Assmasher · 2016-04-20 00:51 · Score: 3, Insightful
  
  This argument doesn't really apply either. The person isn't saying you can't ever smoke, they're saying smoke in private.
  Nobody likes manufacturing pollution either, and we regulate it accordingly, it's not as simple a solution as banning public smoking.
  
  --
  Loading...
10. Re: slippery slope by Anonymous Coward · 2016-04-20 01:03 · Score: 2, Insightful
  
  And American women are in general gold digging bitches. They are surrounded by men yet continue to be maximisers and look for something better that those around them (that isn't coming). Or those other women that would marry for a first time at 21, for second time at 25, for third time at 28, divorce them all and live of forcefully extracted alimony for the rest of their lives without a day working any real job. It is not surprising that within the first ten questions of meeting a woman (if she at all approves how you look and how expensive clothes you wear so she even talks to you) are questions like where you live, what sports club you are a member of, what is the make&model of your car, and sometimes even how much do you make. There are also those that will tell you a story of their bad life choices and how they are studying to be a nurse (so they can reinvent themselves) and directly ask for money. No wonder American men have some self preservation instincts left and stay away from American women.
11. Re: slippery slope by 110010001000 · 2016-04-20 01:22 · Score: 2, Insightful
  
  Because you aren't alone. It is a public park. Other people may be present. You don't own it. Stop being so self centered. Smoke in your own property.
12. Re: slippery slope by butzwonker · 2016-04-20 01:23 · Score: 1, Insightful
  
  How is that an argument against smoking in public? Is there a prohibition to fart in the US?
13. Re:slippery slope by Shortguy881 · 2016-04-20 01:25 · Score: 4, Insightful
  
  Source? I'd like to see the study that not only shows correlation, but causation between access to porn and rape statistics. Don't just make up stuff to make yourself feel better.
  
  --
  Brilliance without wisdom, power without conscience. Ours is a world of nuclear giants and ethical infants.
14. Re:slippery slope by jittles · 2016-04-20 01:27 · Score: 4, Insightful
  
  > Personally I'd like to see a total ban on all smoking tobacco.
  Not to worry, that's just your inner petty tyrant trying to be let free. Fortunately, you and your "there ought to be a law" ilk are *usually* just laughed at and openly mocked. I suppose next you'll be wanting to ban all sex, except for the purpose of procreation and only in the missionary position? We might as well try that whole banning alcohol thing.
  'Cause, you know, banning is effective and your need to control other people is insatiable. "Stop doing things I don't like!"
  Disclosure: I do smoke cigars but you'd be unlikely to actually witness me smoking unless you were in my home. Can't have me enjoying my cigars now, can we?
  I Just don't want people to smoke while I'm eating or outside my doors and windows. Smoke all you want, I don't care. I'll even hang out with you while you smoke (outside, while I stand upwind of you). Have a blast. I just don't want to smell it. Feel free to have all the wild and crazy sex you want, also. I probably don't want to watch that, either. Smoke at a park, I don't care. Just don't smoke upwind from the playground. Really it's more common courtesy than anything else. I think the real problem is that courtesy is no longer (was never?) common.
15. Re:slippery slope by Cederic · 2016-04-20 01:28 · Score: 5, Insightful
  
  C'mon, it's much more than that. The men in the US are not getting married, and having fewer children.
  You wouldn't attribute that to the increased demands and expectations from women that makes it harder for some men to find a partner then?
  You don't think an improved awareness of the economic disadvantages fatherhood imposes on a man is involved?
  You think the gender bias in the legal system isn't putting men off marriage and the subsequent damage caused by a potential divorce?
  It's increasingly difficult to justify marriage, fatherhood is a risky proposition when so many men end up paying to raise a child they're prevented from seeing and men are being told at school and university that they must adhere to a feminist ideal that in turn puts off many women that want a successful alpha male as a partner.
  I guess it could just be all down to porn though. Yeah, porn and sexbots. Fuck me.
16. Re: slippery slope by phishybongwaters · 2016-04-20 01:50 · Score: 4, Insightful
  
  i've heard this before many times. Now I'm not about to call you specifically a liar. What I am going to pass along is the fact that every single human being I've encountered in "real life" that said they had an allergy to "cigarette" smoke in fact had an allergy to other people smoking, and didn't like the smell... which is fine in it's own right, but to instead lie, and invent an allergy (in some cases a "deadly" one) instead of just asking people not to smoke around you, it's pretty above and beyond selfish. THAT SAID... as a former smoker myself, I do have issues with smoking in public buildings and certain public spaces. Walking trails? no, sorry, that's just silly. Open air parks? Again,no that's silly. I have a real, REAL HONEST allergy to certain perfumes and aftershaves, but that doesn't stop woman from drowning themselves in it, and it doesn't stop guys from swimming around in Axe body spray. The exhaust from your cars are causing cancer and many other ailments attributed to second hand smoke, yet I don't see any bans on those, and who the hell would actually support them anyways? But... this isn't about smoking, it's about porn. And the fact is, it's possible to an extent right now for these sites to block access to minors. If you are an idiot parent who gave your un-monitored child a credit card in YOUR name, then it's your fault. It's actually quite surprising what you can get access to, for free, without any verification, from paid legit sites. That can be fixed. Pirated porn? There's no way to stop it. And that's the point, because once you link something to child porn, everyone is onboard with whatever it takes to stop it. And the name of the game is destroying online privacy, terrorism and child porn have been, and always will be the poster child for restrictions on your rights, privacy and freedom.
17. Re: slippery slope by jonnythan · 2016-04-20 01:56 · Score: 4, Insightful
  
  Secondhand farts aren't dangerous.
18. Re: slippery slope by karmatic · 2016-04-20 02:03 · Score: 3, Insightful
  
  What I am going to pass along is the fact that every single human being I've encountered in "real life" that said they had an allergy to "cigarette" smoke in fact had an allergy to other people smoking, and didn't like the smell
  Hi. In the past, as a kid I referred to cigarette smoke sensitivity as an allergy. To be fair, I thought it was. Now, I recognize that it is, in fact, a migraine trigger.
  If I'm lucky, exposure to cigarette smoke just leads to a pounding headache. That's what usually happens with brief exposure. With a little more exposure (as is often the case in Vegas), it escalates a bit and becomes a debilitating headache, followed by difficulty breathing and vomiting (after which I feel a little worse). In extreme cases (for example, when there was a fire alarm during class and egress was through the smokers outside the door, and I was not prepared and holding my breath), it results in temporary complete loss of vision, in addition to vomiting and the feeling of having my head put into a vice.
  If you've never had the experience of going suddenly blind, it's absolutely, horribly terrifying, particularly when you don't know why. This was my first blindness, and I hadn't been officially diagnosed, so it was just a bizarre thing I talked to the doctor about - he thought it was swelling on the optic nerve and proscribed Benadryl.
  You may not know people in person who are genuinely sensitive to smoke, but we exist. I will do my best to avoid you, but I don't necessarily know where you've been, and if I walk through a cloud, you can cause me hours and hours of literal agony.
  
  I have a real, REAL HONEST allergy to certain perfumes and aftershaves, but that doesn't stop woman from drowning themselves in it, and it doesn't stop guys from swimming around in Axe body spray.
  Those trigger migraines in me, too. Two wrongs don't make a right.
19. Re:slippery slope by liquid_schwartz · 2016-04-20 02:12 · Score: 5, Insightful
  
  I can guarantee you that my BBQ in one summer "contaminates" more air than I did as a smoker when I did so would you also support total bans on BBQ
  To be fair BBQ smells excellent, cigarette smoke does not.
20. Re: slippery slope by shaitand · 2016-04-20 02:18 · Score: 2, Insightful
  
  It's an open air park, the smoke from a cigarette presents no health risk to anyone, certainly less than the cars driving by.
  
  At that point it's an annoyance. If you want to play polka in the park I can't stop you, without a health risk how is it different?
21. Re:slippery slope by StikyPad · 2016-04-20 02:23 · Score: 4, Insightful
  
  A standard "facial" is hardly abuse. They're barely outside of mainstream, and many women find them erotic. As for degrading, that's subjective. Is it degrading to be mildly submissive? For people with a fragile ego, perhaps, but most of us are submissive in some form to some people every day, as a part of a normal, healthy existence. That the context is sexual rather than, say, working behind a counter doesn't magically make it wrong. When it becomes abusive or degrading is when there's a lack of consent or choice. That's also when it becomes a crime.
  
  --
  https://www.eff.org/https-everywhere
22. Re:slippery slope by kilfarsnar · 2016-04-20 02:46 · Score: 3, Insightful
  
  men are being told at school and university that they must adhere to a feminist ideal that in turn puts off many women that want a successful alpha male as a partner.
  This one is my favorite. They've spent the last 35 years telling men to be better listeners, and getting them in touch with their feelings, and now I read all these articles wondering where all the masculine, take-charge men have gone. It's kinda funny, really.
  
  --
  "What the American public doesn't know is what makes them the American public." -Ray Zalinsky (Tommy Boy)
23. Re: slippery slope by Joce640k · 2016-04-20 02:50 · Score: 4, Insightful
  
  And none of them seem to have a problem leaving a trail of butts behind them.
  I can be sitting on a park bench surrounded by the evidence of smokers being there.
  
  --
  No sig today...
24. Re: slippery slope by edtice1559 · 2016-04-20 03:02 · Score: 2, Insightful
  
  Cigarette smoking is a problem. It used to be that smoking was allowed just about everywhere. As more knowledge become available about the health effects, the number of places that it is allowed keeps going down. It should be painfully obvious that smoking at a playground isn't a good idea and a sign ought not to be necessary. But since there are those who would choose to smoke if not explicitly prohibited, we have to pass laws and put up signs. And no, it's not only smoking. We have to put up signs telling people not to feed alligators (yes, for real). We have to put up signs to tell people to wear shoes and shirts in restaurants. We have to put up signs to tell people not to use their mobile phones in a move theater. So no, it's not just smoking. But smoking is probably the most harmful thing that people seem to think they have some divinely given right to do wherever they want.
25. Re: slippery slope by Anonymous Coward · 2016-04-20 03:43 · Score: 0, Insightful
  
  That couldn't have anything to do with the wholesale removal of ashtrays everywhere, right?
26. Re:slippery slope by MightyMartian · 2016-04-20 03:44 · Score: 3, Insightful
  
  A total ban is probably ludicrous, but by the same token, we don't let people shit in public, because of health concerns and basic social decency, so why is it that we let people smoke in public?
  
  --
  The world's burning. Moped Jesus spotted on I50. Details at 11.
27. Re: slippery slope by Wycliffe · 2016-04-20 03:47 · Score: 3, Insightful
  
  If they really want to fix the porn problem for minors then the best solution is to take porn out of the shadows (not that it's really in the shadows right now). Many people are reluctant to give their credit card info to porn sites because they are scared that they will be charged or they are scared of getting caught by a spouse. It would be relatively simple to have some place like the DMV or post office give out anonymous ids which have been age verified.
  The biggest problem is that they don't want to just stop minors. There is this strange belief in many circles that porn is a gateway to rape (even though studies have shown the exact opposite). I had a friend who ended up on the sexual offender's list because at 23 he slept with a 17 year old girl (who already had a kid, btw). Anyways, one of the conditions of his probation was no porn. Seriously??? We should provide free porn and free internet to everyone on the sexual offender's list. As a society, we should *want* them to stay in their basement watching porn instead of going out prowling.
28. Re: slippery slope by thegarbz · 2016-04-20 03:59 · Score: 4, Insightful
  
  Isn't this exactly why everything is regulated? I can't drive a hummer down the footpath either and not because those damn pedestrians keep getting blood on the tires.
  If you truly think about a public space you would be absolutely amazed at how much regulation there is in those places, mainly because we as a species simply lack the ability to share and get along.
29. Re: slippery slope by Anonymous Coward · 2016-04-20 06:52 · Score: 3, Insightful
  
  If you can pack it in, you can pack it out. If you think tgst cigarette butt is too nasty for you to put in your pocket and carry to the nearest trashcan then what the f*ck makes you think it is OK to throw it on the ground? The amount of self-delusion that goes on in sinkers heads just boggles my mind. Your right to poison yourself stops at my nose. Your right to produce nasty cigarette butts stops when it turns into littering.
  I'm all for your right to smoke but A) I don't have to facilitate it by paying for ashtrays because you are too frikkin lazy to carry your nuts to the nearest trashcan. B) I shouldn't have to breath your frikkin poison. C) I shouldn't have to live in your filth.
  Stop bawling that your "rights" are being taken away when the rest of us have just finally gotten sick and tired of you f*ckers trashing the world we are trying to live in.
Proof? by Anonymous Coward · 2016-04-19 22:14 · Score: 2, Insightful

That's a bold statement... If he's got proof, I'd like to see it (for free, obviously)
1. Re:Proof? by gweihir · 2016-04-19 23:51 · Score: 3, Insightful
  
  Nobody has proof for this, because it does not exist. Even the claim that pornography is harmful to children does not have proof because it is mostly wrong and primary fueled by dark and restrictive religious ideas. The only known harm is that they may feel inadequate, but that can be counteracted by explaining to them that what they see are athletes doing a performance and that what is displayed in bodies is not average at all and that normal sex is quite a bit different.
  The fact of the matter is that teenagers that are interested in it have had access to porn since forever and that those that are not interested in it (in particular younger children) simply ignore it.
  
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  Most ACs are not even worth the keystrokes to insult them. Be generically insulted by this and ignored otherwise.
2. Re: Proof? by gweihir · 2016-04-19 23:57 · Score: 5, Insightful
  
  There is and from multiple sources. The problem is that it says what the prohibitionists are doing is actually quite harmful and increases rape and other problems. In addition, they often think they are on a mission from "God" (or against male dominance) and if they would admit the facts, it would not only look like they are exceptionally stupid, but outright malicious. Hence this evil and harmful crusade continues, like some other ones do.
  
  --
  Most ACs are not even worth the keystrokes to insult them. Be generically insulted by this and ignored otherwise.
3. Re:Proof? by gmack · 2016-04-20 01:02 · Score: 4, Insightful
  
  That is an interesting assumption on your part. On the other hand, from people I know who work at schools, there is an increasing problem of boys who don't seem to realize that girlfriends don't like being treated like porn starts and girls who think it's normal for sex to be all about the man's sexual gratification and not the woman's.
  At the very least, we have a problem with porn being the only sexual education some of these kids are getting.
If only... by Anonymous Coward · 2016-04-19 22:14 · Score: 5, Insightful

If only we had a way to instruct these children about responsible sexual practices. If only we could gather children together 5 days a week in public buildings and teach them sexual education along with math, science and history to demystify sex so that porn isn't their only reference.
If only...
1. Re:If only... by Anonymous Coward · 2016-04-19 22:49 · Score: 2, Insightful
  
  We have a sex ed crisis so bad, kids are turning to porn for their sex ed. It is like kids learning fighting from WWE, and etiquette from a Tarantino movie. Our culture has made sex such a private and taboo subject that it is not ok to talk about in polite circles. So people don't talk about it. But we have a basic drive to seek sex, and the modern world looks like heaven-on-earth compared to what our basic drives are biologically adapted to. Not getting laid as much as happens in porn results in repressed sexual frustration (which would not occur in the same way even pre-WW2, where survival and food issues were more pronounced). Not teaching people about it, and deeming it taboo in most circles means that this frustration and dissatisfaction festers in the dark, until in some people it finds a way out. The best outlet, arguably, is porn and professional sexual entertainment, provided it is used in a disciplined fashion. The problem, then, is that latter part: disciplined fashion. Leaving a bunch of kids a pile of porn movies and expecting them to each work out that 'disciplined fashion' on their own without instruction, or even hinting at the need to, is part of the problem. Society is blaming porn for symptoms due to sex drives repressed and frustrated by a sexually repressive culture. The next problem is that 'unrepressing' is a naive solution with many problems of its own, issues of collective hygiene and containing the spread of STIs being a major one. But unless we change society so that people with dissatisfied and frustrated basic sex drives do have save, effective and widely acceptable outlets, together with education about the discipline required to do this safely, we will continue to have these problems. (In addition, this is an example of the problems that come about when you take ancient wisdom, followed literally, in a way which is divorced from the wise minds behind it.)
Great by Anonymous Coward · 2016-04-19 22:15 · Score: 4, Insightful

Another attempt by the far right to legislate its religious morality. Maybe we should call religion a public health crisis. It damages people's ability to think rationally. Porn is like any other film; it's staged. Of course, the right doesn't call action movies a public health crisis, even though they tend to contain plenty of violence; action movies don't violate their religion's morals.
1. Re: Great by kqs · 2016-04-19 23:47 · Score: 4, Insightful
  
  You have a good point. Utah is known to have very few right-wing religious folks, but is full of liberal feminists. So logically, this bill was passed by feminists.
  Either that, or you have an irrational hatred of feminists, probably due to deep and perfectly valid feelings of inadequacy, and try to blame them for everything.
2. Re:Great by AmiMoJo · 2016-04-20 00:10 · Score: 5, Insightful
  
  A fairly compelling argument can be made that porn actually reduces abuse but providing an outlet for perfectly normal, powerful feelings. As the Catholic church demonstrates, abstinence certainly has some pretty severe psychological consequences.
  
  --
  const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
  SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
No control group by Anonymous Coward · 2016-04-19 22:17 · Score: 4, Insightful

That's a bold statement... If he's got proof, I'd like to see it (for free, obviously)
Science would be great here, although any limitations are going to be severely limited by both the first amendment.
I remember hearing a few years ago that the effects of internet pornography were difficult to study because it is too difficult to find a control group.
1. Re:No control group by KGIII · 2016-04-20 00:44 · Score: 4, Insightful
  
  > Later studies have shown that the places with the most and best internet connections[1] have the lowest number of rape cases.
  This is an excellent time to remind everyone that correlation is not causation. Those places with the best 'net connections are also the most stable societies, the wealthier societies, etc... I suspect those have far more influence on the number of criminal sex offenses than the access to speedy porn. Just a hunch...
  I bet you can probably say that those countries also have, on average, a greater availability of clean water. Surely, it's the clean water that's preventing the rape!
  
  --
  "So long and thanks for all the fish."
Correction Governor.... by Lumpy · 2016-04-19 22:31 · Score: 4, Insightful

Exposure to politicians and their desires to push their own ideals on others is a public health crisis.
WE should outlaw politicians at once!

--
Do not look at laser with remaining good eye.
Well, he has a point. by quintessencesluglord · 2016-04-19 22:37 · Score: 3, Insightful

Utah has the highest consumption rate of porn, and there really hasn't been a good explanation for it.
On the plus side, it's nice to see the religious right taking on the mantle of anti-porn crusaders again from feminist, as the you can only get so far with claims of misogyny.. Erototoxins are where its at.
Unfortunately for him, this discussion already took place in 1969 (snark), via the President's Commission on Obscenity and Pornography. Thus far, I haven't heard much in the way to contradict their findings.
And then there is that pesky free speech issue, which regardless of public health problems, the courts haven't seen fit to abridge.
I'll be the first to admit I'm dismayed at the prevalence of porn now, but simply asking people to use more discretion isn't nearly as headline grabbing as claiming porn is a health crisis.
Maybe he can look into why there is such a problem in his own state and get back to us?
1. Re:Well, he has a point. by Anonymous Coward · 2016-04-19 23:28 · Score: 4, Insightful
  
  Utah has the highest consumption rate of porn, and there really hasn't been a good explanation for it.
  Sexual repression leads to higher porn consumption.
  Utah is predominantly Mormon.
  Q.E.D.
Another unnformed nut by humptheElephant · 2016-04-19 22:47 · Score: 2, Insightful

Where do these guys come from? Someone must be kicking over the rocks for them to escape into the wild. Why not tackle real issues like hunger, torture, spying on citizens, wars, military budgets, infrastructure, climate change, etc? All he is doing is opening up another rabbit hole for society to run down when we need to put our energy in extinguishing fires that other idiots have started.
1. Re:Another unnformed nut by gweihir · 2016-04-20 00:12 · Score: 3, Insightful
  
  Naaa, that could lead to inconvenient questions who is responsible for _that_ and if fixed, it could lead to a non-distracted population that actually notices how self-centered, incompetent and evil politicians actually are.
  
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  Most ACs are not even worth the keystrokes to insult them. Be generically insulted by this and ignored otherwise.
Religion is worse by scsirob · 2016-04-20 00:33 · Score: 3, Insightful

All indications I have show that religion in various forms is a lot worse for your health than porn will ever be. It kills every day, and if it doesn't kill you today, at least causes serious lack of judgement and deformed perception of reality.
Perhaps the Senator should reset his priorities and fix the religion issue first? The world will be a better place without religion, thank you.

--
To Terminate, or not to Terminate, that's the question - SCSIROB
I hate to be cliche... by 101percent · 2016-04-20 01:38 · Score: 4, Insightful

Honestly this is something ISIS would say.
The behavior is the public health problem by sjbe · 2016-04-20 02:14 · Score: 5, Insightful

most nudity that is porn portrays abusive behavior and feeds a need in the viewer that probably is not healthy.
People are horny whether or not they have access to porn. "Portrays abusive behavior"? In some cases sure but the porn isn't the cause, it is the result.

I've done a lot of counseling sessions with people whose relationships and lives were ruined by the persons addiction to porn.
Addiction is a real problem but it doesn't follow that porn = public health crisis because some people cannot manage their libido effectively. Alcoholism is a disease but that doesn't make alcohol a public health problem. It makes alcoholism a public health problem. See the difference? Alcohol consumed responsibly is a non-problem. Alcohol consumed to excess routinely and/or in an irresponsible manner (i.e. alcoholism) is a problem.
Seriously, this is a Mormon lawmaker trying to legislate his own morality on others. Let's not pretend there is any credibility to calling this a public health crisis because it isn't.

I have yet to do a single one where sugary drinks, for example, caused it.
And exactly how do you get to the conclusion that obesity and diabetes are conditions best treated by counseling?
Re:Cause and effect to determine public health cri by ripvlan · 2016-04-20 03:30 · Score: 3, Insightful

I'm not sure your position is supported by recent publications. While I agree that people define "baseline" - the current concern is that teenagers are looking to porn as "what normal is." Teenagers make up their own truth in the absence of education. For example "you can't get pregnant the first time" ... etc.
I read an article recently that young women (girls) are being "trained" by young men (boys). Boys are watching porn and they expect girls to behave the same way. Girls want to be part of the in-club and are adapting - convincing themselves (for example) that oral sex isn't sex. Free to do it at will without consequence. They are not developing a healthy relationship with sex. Other forms of sex are now entering this new base-line. Forms that girls don't really want to do - but again adapt to remain in the club.
There are fears that STDs will rise because these "new" baseline forms of sex aren't considered problematic by teens - and therefore aren't protecting themselves....because of the "you can't get pregnant" line of reasoning.
My point is that teens may not be choosing their own baseline. Peer pressure is forcing unhealthy choices on them. You can't drink until 21, some states are proposing "can't smoke" until 21. Well thought out reasoning is not a skill teens have ;-)
Teaching our young what "healthy" looks like is probably the place to start. Okay - maybe parents not literally teaching them. Open the dialog and remove the taboo.
Re:Cause and effect to determine public health cri by Anonymous Coward · 2016-04-20 04:50 · Score: 3, Insightful

Go ahead and demonstrate that porn isn't a public health crisis.
Burdens of proof do not work that way! Goodnight!