Legalization of Prostitution Essay -- Prostitution Should Be Legal

Prostitution, considered one of the oldest professions in the world, was legal until 1915 when most states passed laws making it illegal. One of the main reasons for the prohibition of prostitution was to keep soldiers out of the brothels so they would stay focused on the war. After WWII, lawmakers left the prohibition laws in place instead of repealing them. Prostitution should be legal, regulated, and taxed. This would increase the quality of police protection, reduce waste in the judicial system, decrease the spread of sexually transmitted diseases, and increase federal tax revenue. By legalizing and regulating the act of prostitution, the spread of sexually transmitted diseases (STD’s) will decrease. Opponents of legalization believe that STD’s will increase substantially. However, licensed brothels will be required to enforce testing for STD’s. Implementing weekly sexually transmitted disease testing for all licensed workers will reduce the likeliness of spreading diseases to multiple partners. Also, having laws in place to enforce condom use by stating that anyone (worker or customer) caught not using protection will be arrested, fined, and will lose their license to work, will ensure the reduction of the spread of sexually transmitted diseases. Brothels are legal in ten of the seventeen counties in the state of Nevada. Those counties are, Churchill, Esmeralda, Pershing, Storey, Lander, Lyon, Humboldt, Elko, White Pine, Mineral, and Nye Counties., â€Å"In those ten counties combined, there are fewer reported cases of STD’s than the other seven counties in the state† (Nevada State Health Division STD Program 2013). The Nevada State Health Department collects data concerning sexually transmitted diseases from every d... ...port groups, and attending protests, the legalization of prostitution can ensue. Works Cited â€Å"Nevada brothels want to be good neighbor† Associated Press. 10 May 2014. 11 April 2015. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7805733/ â€Å"STD Statistics† Nevada Department of Health and Human Services. 2011. 11 April 2015. http://health.nv.gov/CD_HIV_STDProgram.htm#stats Puzzanchera, C., B. Adams, and W. Kang "Easy Access to FBI Arrest Statistics 1994- 2012" Online (2009). 11 April 2015. http://ojjdp.ncjrs.gov/ojstatbb/ezaucr/ â€Å"Prostitution Related Arrests† Arlington Police Department, 2014. 11 April 2015. http://www.arlingtonpd.org/Prostitution/ProstitutionArrestsFebruary.pdf Cundiff, Kirby R., â€Å"Prostitution and Sex Crimes† The Independent Institute, 8 April 2014. 11 April 2015. http://www.independent.org/pdf/working_papers/50_prostitution.pdf