Opinion on Prostitution and Drug Addiction.

We want to keep this simple: Kill the laws that forbid prostitution. If all of society were a machine, eliminating one gear, or lever *may make the machine run better. But humans are very complex, so our society faces complex problems.

No commentators so far have raise the important question as to why prostitution exists at all?
Once upon not so long ago, I worked on the streets of Vancouver providing exit opportunities for prostitutes. What I concluded is that a person becomes a prostitute as a last resort. Human slavery directly forces women from far away countries to do it. If they could survive doing anything else they would. Secondly, prostitution is related to drug addiction in many cases. When the addiction demands a fix, and you have no money, as a woman this otherwise untenable idea becomes a way to feed the need.

I am a social conservative some might say, but I think society needs a shift in their paradigm, see these women as the victims they are and provide viable ways out. It may astound some of you liberals, but I think drugs need to be legalized, and even dispensed in drug stores by prescription. For many heroin has had a grip on them for years. Because it is an illegal drug, illegal activity must occur to feed the habit. If it flows through the existing drug-store industry, dying as a result of impure or extra-strength heroin would become far less frequent. The actual cost of heroin is a few pennies. Canada could set prices far below the street, kill a major source of funds for organized crime, all forced prostitutes may even get to go back to school. If we treated prostitutes and addicts as a health issue rather than a crime issue it would make a huge difference in the lives of these victims.

Sure there are exceptions: There are prostitutes who brazenly say this is a career profession they enjoy. We need understand they really aren't representative of the majority of the industry. With proper regulation, instead of paying johns the majority of their income, a far smaller proportion of their income can contribute to taxation.

I see this as the only viable solution. I wish we could legally make these industries vanish, but by refusing to admit the only way to deal with this is with compassion we are bound to keep some rendition of the current drama in play.