[PatrickHenry]

I made the poll transparent so that we could all view the responses by community members.

I believe that this endeavor should be regulated as a business, but no special regulations like for the current liquor license, etc.

My reasoning: As most folks have responded, the present situation of selective enforcement creates disrespect for the law and many other ills. What we have now is broken. I included the two more stringent options for the handful of moralists among us who think that enforcement might help.

I too am a moralist. I regard prostitution as morally wrong, but its lengthy history and pervasiveness means that eliminating it wil be impossible. And just because something is morally wrong doesn't mean that the State has a responsibility to interfere. We have done away with laws against drunkenness, adultery, lying and other victimless "crimes." I see no need for the State to "protect" us from prostitution. Our protection from sin should be our own integrity. Crimes that have victims should be prosecuted.

But I am extremely reluctant to create another bureaucracy for regulating prostitution for two reasons. One is my stance that Statist bureaucracies have their own set of problems attendant, among them the potential for corruption and graft, favoritism, and a tendency to inflate over time. I also hate the thought that the State would lend its stamp of approval to something as awful as prostitution. By granting it a license, the State shows an active approval of this sinful activity.

Far better to simply treat it as any other business, meaning no favored tax treatment, but also no special laws and bureaucracy.

I do favor some restrictions, among them disallowing billboard and other in-your-face advertising. I don't wish to explain such matters to my curious children. They will discover this activity soon enough without the publicity. I would also favor some community standards, even up to disallowing the activity if the majority doesn't want it.

There will always be a black market unless there is deregulation. Maybe there will always be a cash business, too, since folks will reason that they need not pay any business taxes whatsoever. But a State bureaucracy for this business will not solve the current problem of the black market, with the pimps and crime. More regulation will just result in the same underworld of avoiding the scrutiny of the State, while also lending the legitimacy of State licensing for something I find apalling...