Does Pornography Harm America?

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To say that porn is addictive does a disservice to those who actually suffer from the disease of addiction. There are no credible, peer- reviewed studies that support the notion that porn is addictive in any medically accepted understanding of the term. No one has ever died from either an overdose of pornography, or by being denied access to it. No one has ever collapsed in convulsions, vomiting and shaking, from any lack of pornography. The etiology of any distress over its use is clearly emotional in nature and needs to be addressed at that level.

Even if the use of adult material began as pleasurable and relaxing but has, for some, become compulsive, distressing, disturbing, damaging, obsessive, regressive and otherwise inappropriate and unhealthy, as much could be said of many other indulgences to which the pejorative term “addiction” is not applied.  As unhappy as a person might become over it, excessive porn consumption doesn’t rise to the level of true addiction, which is a physical disease in need of medical intervention. This is one habit where calling it quits cold turkey won’t result in a trip to the emergency room or a stay in detox. Social policy should not be made on the basis of sloppy and inexact metaphors.