Within the city’s 8.3 square miles, there are currently 57 massage establishments and 575 therapists. City officials estimate that about 15 percent of those working as therapists in the city are prostitutes, and that’s not counting those who haven’t bothered filing for permits from City Hall and the Santa Monica Police Department. City officials are currently mulling over tougher regulations to govern massage parlors and spas.
So this week’s Q-Line question asks: Should prostitution be made legal, if it is regulated and workers submit to regular health inspections? Why or why not?
Call (310) 285-8106 before Friday at 5 p.m. and we’ll print your answers in next weekend’s edition of the Daily Press. Please limit responses to a minute or less.
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on February 1, 2007. Read the original PDF.