Why Not Legalize the Oldest Profession?
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When are the police and government going to figure out that chasing prostitutes from one corner to another just isn’t going to solve the problem? (“Prostitutes Try to Avoid Valley Vice Crackdown,” Oct. 8)
Why not look at the problem from another angle and see how these industrious and apparently dedicated sex workers can be a benefit to our community? I think it’s about time that our city and county governments seriously considered legalizing prostitution, regulating it with licensed houses, and taxing the ever-living daylights out of it. Then, instead of the money going to pimps who beat and terrorize these women or to drug dealers, the money could go into public services for the good of the community. I would even propose that individual communities who welcome this business should receive special disbursements for being cooperative in this effort.
I believe this would be a more successful effort in getting prostitution off the streets than chasing them into other neighborhoods. It’s about time we got off our collective moral high horse, faced the facts of life, and really did something to make a change for the better.
MARSHA SMITH SHAW, West Hills
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