(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); So, opinions on prostitution? Should it be legal or not? Maybe only under certain circumstances? Yes/no?

This topic came to mind as I saw a program on TV, 2 female police officers(UK) pretending to be prostitutes then subsequently arresting the "customers". Surely this is extremely unfair? Opinions, please

I say legalize it but it has to be regulated one way or another.

Prostitution should be legalised due to the fact it is a Demerit good* and is the equivalent of products like tobacco or casinos. It can be harmful and the Private costs heavily outweigh the Private benefits, which basically means its doing more harm than good, but then again cigarettes are the same and to a certain extent, gambling is too. You cant illegalise these products/services because they will go underground and cause more of problem and a fuss.

*A good which is considered unhealthy or damaging in some way. A demerit good can be physically harmful (cigarettes), mentally harmful (gambling), or morally harmful (prostitution). In many cases, demerit goods are subject to additional taxes in an effort to reduce consumption; these taxes are frequently known as sin taxes.

"It's a small production officer. I am the director, producer, editor, camera-man, and lead supporting actor. It saves a lot more money this way. This young woman here is the lead actress and she's working on a single payment commission, £200 for one night. She agreed to a flat rate payment rather than any profit shares, however I shall be paying myself out of the profits. Naturally, I will be listing all sales for tax purposes as I've shown here...

Income - 1 copy of film bought - £8.50 (I bought it myself).
Expenses - 1 blank DVD, electricity, commissioned actress fee, digital camera, hotel room rent, - £403.50
Total profit - £-395
Tax (at 20%) owed - £0

If that'll be all officer, I'd like to get back to shagging my actress... considering this film is costing me money, I'm going to at least enjoy it. Thank you."

You made me actually laugh out loud XD

If prostitution was made legal, sexually transmitted diseases would spread rapidly.

Because they don't already? lol.

It isn't like prostitution doesn't happen due to it being illegal, I'd actually expect prostitution activity to remain near enough the same if it was made legal.

What evidence have you got for this claim? Actually, if prostitution was made legal prostitutes could get regular medical testing without needing to worry about legal problems, and would be able to work in a safe environment where their customers are required to undergo testing before they can take part. Currently they have no such options. If anything, it would lower STD spread.

But who gives a shit? Really? Alcohol and Tobacco both cause health issues, but we don't make them illegal. Just because something is unhealthy is no reason to ban it.

But there would always be those who didn't get tested regularly. It could, in theory, work, but there are too many factors such as the high sin taxes that would accompany it that lead me to believe there would still be a large amount of illegal prostitution - which could even amount to more than there already is because it would become more socially acceptable.

Still, this is just a blind assertion with no statistics to back it up, and it's still completely irrelévent because we don't ban things based on how much damage they do to public health, if we did alcohol, tobacco, motor vehicles, fossil fuels, food with high fat, suger or salt, contact sports, anything spicy... they'd all be illegal.