Is porn immoral? That doesn’t matter: It’s a public health crisis.

[Warren DeMontague]

12. Bad False equivalence is Bad and False.

"Drugs, Booze, Guns and Porn are bad for society" - Okay, Let's unpack that dealio for a minute.

One, "Drugs" are not a monolith, it's time we stop treating them as such. Pot is not Heroin is not Caffeine is not Psilocybin. And "bad"? A knee-jerk, subjective assertion. Some substances, in some contexts, used by some people, are not bad, and in fact can be good. I can think of a lot of good reasons why a morning cup of coffee is a net gain for me, most of the time. Many people get health benefits from an occasional glass of wine ("booze" and "Drugs", of course, really being the same category) and a FUCKTON of people get creative or other benefits from recreational cannabis use, whether regular or occasional. Some drugs are bad for some people and some relationships between some substance users or abusers and the substances in question are bad for themselves and those around them, certainly. But "drugs are bad" is a blanket, nonsensical assertion.

Two, "booze". Again, it is really "drugs" but as drugs go, I think the societal and physiological harm from that one dwarfs most other substances; so what do we do- do we "wage war on booze" or try to convince people with lies that booze is far worse for them in all situations than it actually is? No, because when you lie to people about shit- I don't care if it is about drugs, or booze, or porn- they write you off (rightly so) as an agenda-pushing, moralizing finger wagger who is not to be trusted.

I have experience around alcoholics and I can tell you that what alcoholics really need, at this point in time, is good science-based research into the physiology of addiction and what exactly causes some people to have adverse relationships with a chemical most of the population can handle. There is no shortage of 12 step and other recovery options for people who need it. Beyond that education in terms of binge drinking and not drinking and driving is effective, but not really relevant to the "porn question" until we have an epidemic of masturbating drivers.

Now, Guns and Porn. Here's where we get into the false equivalence, just as we see it around cannabis. It is well-nigh impossible in this country to get any meaningful regulation AT ALL on guns, that's a simple reality, despite what they are capable- objectively, undeniably- of doing to people, other people, innocent bystanders or anyone who is NOT the person with the gun itself. To compare that to porn, or weed, is ludicrous. But the authoritarians will fall all over themselves, to try and outlaw (or keep outlawed) the porn, and the weed. When is the last time someone walked into a school and killed 20 first graders with an eigth of Bubba Kush or a DVD of "Rocco Does Prague"?

Never, that's when.