A highly addictive substance is being regularly pumped into our homes unfiltered-and no one seems to care.
Mary Anne Layden, co-director of the Sexual Trauma and Psychopathology Program at the University of Pennsylvania, called pornography the “most concerning thing to psychological health that I know of existing today” in a 2004 testimony before the United States Senate Commerce Committee.
Layden went on to compare porn to crack, saying that pornography addicts have a more difficult time recovering from their addiction than cocaine addicts. Coke users can get the drug out of their system, but pornographic images remain in the brain forever.
Every post-modern era has had its narcotic of choice: the ’60s had marijuana, the ’70s had LSD, the ’80s had cocaine and the ’90s had methamphetamines.
It looks like the 21st century’s drug of choice is going to be even more widespread and destructive than all those-but federally protected as “free speech” and presented to us as an essential part of the American economy.
Even worse, our pornographic addiction isn’t fed by pushers or shady characters on street corners and in alleys-it’s mass-produced and tidily distributed via the Internet.
“So what’s the big deal?” you might ask.
Where do I start?
Also at the 2004 Senate hearing, Dr. Jeffrey Satinover testified that pornography biologically causes direct release of the most perfect addictive substance-the naturally occurring opioids in the brain. Under oath, he said, “It does what heroin can’t do, in effect.”
Great! Pornography addicts can get their fix with one click of the mouse. Imagine if crack were that easy to get?
Some might argue that porn purveyors are only desensitizing and harming themselves. OK, but most drug users only hurt themselves, too. So why do we concern ourselves so much with them and not porn addicts?
The truth is, pornography has a real effect on our society. Recent studies have found that the prevalence of porn usage is increasing in America with both genders.
On average, two hours per workday per American are spent online, with the greatest site visitation being pornography. Businesses are taking a huge hit in terms of quality and production as their employees waste their time in cyberspace.
Porn is also damaging on an individual level. Men and women who frequently view porn are found to be less sensitive to rape, molestation and other forms of sexual abuse and violence. Often, those who are addicted to pornography see escalated amounts of violence in their own sexual and everyday acts. More than half of all convicted rapists viewed pornography immediately before seeking out their victims.
If that’s not enough, maybe this is: The largest consumers of Internet pornography are youths from ages 12 to 17.
One of the most troubling trends in Utah high schools is the prevalence and abuse of meth among our teenagers-but pornography, which is much more prevalent and addictive, is still viewed as a familial or “spiritual” problem. And thanks to current interpretation of the Constitution, it’ll have to stay that way.
We need to do something about this problem, and the first step is recognizing that pornography isn’t just a dirty little secret-it’s a serious problem that we need to address now.
For more information on how you can help, please visit www.cp80.org.