As We See It

Study says Nevada brothel workers have a lower STD rate than LA County porn actors

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The brothel workers at Chicken Ranch might be at a lower risk of contracting STDs.
Photo: Sam Morris

A study by six health experts published last week in the journal Sexually Transmitted Diseases tested 168 adult film performers in Los Angeles County from mid-May to mid-September 2010 and found that 28 percent tested positive for either gonorrhea or chlamydia ... or both. The report makes this interesting observation: “Compared with the brothel workers of Nevada, another legal sex worker population in the United States, [gonorrhea] and [chlamydia] prevalence in this study is significantly higher.”

Now, surely the report was just using Nevada to illustrate the need for increased sex worker safety in California—and LA County voted this week to require porn actors to wear condoms on set—but we read it a slightly different way: Why not just move the porn business to Nevada already? It’s been proposed before, and as this study illustrates, we know how to take care of our sex workers.

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Ken Miller

Ken Miller is the editor of Las Vegas Magazine, having previously served as associate editor at Las Vegas Weekly, assistant ...

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