Op-Ed
There’s a bill brewing in Albany that would decriminalize sex work between consenting adults. What could go wrong?
“It includes both the sex worker, the person who is selling their body, and someone who is purchasing the sex, so it takes away criminal penalties, it prevents raids from happening, it ensures that sex workers are safer,” she said.
Sure it does.
Remember what happened when New York City “decriminalized” marijuana? The stink of weed was suddenly everywhere. “Decriminalizing” something and making it “legal” is the definition of a distinction without a difference. And remember, decriminalizing possession of marijuana was just another step on the road to complete legalization of weed for recreational use by adults. I’d be willing to bet that sex work will follow that same path if Albany lawmakers are actually craven enough to decriminalize it. These things happen incrementally. And what has legal weed brought us? Not a legal and regulated system of clean and well-lighted dispensaries where we can buy our joints and gummies. No. We’ve instead seen an explosion of illegal weed shops, a world where weed is being sold in delis and other storefronts. Legalized weed has been a boon to the black marketeers and drug cartels, and not a tax revenue windfall for the state, as was promised.
