Meet an organization, FightTheNewDrug.org, whose dual aim is to both reveal damage and empower change. Each of those ambitions alone, and for different reasons, would be a towering achievement to accomplish.

First, enormous disrespect is heaped upon those who hold the opinion that looking at pictures does some type of societal harm. People who think that the porn industry is damaging are treated with patronizing scorn by those who believe (or pretend to) that damage can only be accomplished by physical objects like knives, guns and poisons, and by physical actions like stabbing, shooting, or poisoning.

Those who take pride in their own alleged sophistication can be mercilessly dismissive of anyone who objects to the detrimental effects of the gigantic porn industry. The anti-porn contingent, on the other hand, perceives the significant negative impacts of porn consumption upon individuals, relationships, and society. Anti-porn sentiment is backed up by numerous studies that have been conducted, over decades, by respected institutions.

FightTheNewDrug.org collects and publicizes facts that in a sane world would cause considerable alarm. For starters, most young people have been exposed to online porn by age 13. An impressive 73% of all teenagers have been introduced to it. At least one out of every three porn videos involves “aggression,” a word that is somehow passed off as being more civilized and sophisticated (and acceptable) than plain old violence.

This is not a situation that sane people should be willing to perpetrate or perpetuate. Also, the organization has uncovered a disconcerting statistic: 53% of boys and 39% of girls believe that “pornography is a realistic depiction of sex.” Put those two facts together, and the obvious conclusion is that a very large proportion of young people approach their initial sexual experience believing that they either should commit violence or expect to be treated violently.

Research in this field strongly suggests that “porn can influence women to be more submissive.” This translates into willingness to put up with mistreatment, because they have seen in living color how intimacy is — allegedly — “supposed to be.”

After a young person’s exposure to aggressive sex, the psychological effects are likely to carry over into family life and also, far too often, into a person’s professional life. If that assertion is in any doubt, see the recent news about a Texas congressman and his staff member who burned herself alive. Regardless of what news source it is told by, that story is a mess.

Ugly ideas about sex are bound to pollute home life, work life, and relationships with school officials and church acquaintances, and to promote friendships with people who expect to be congratulated for disgusting behavior. The authors who write for this organization say, “Porn consumers tend to be less satisfied in relationships, less committed, and more permissive of cheating.”

Aside from those issues, there is the whole underworld where the filmic masterpieces are created. In any randomly chosen dirty movie, a lot could be going on behind the scenes. Sure, that actress might be of legal age, and might be on the film set consensually. Or, she could be working off a bill for drugs that she didn’t want in the first place, but somebody deliberately got her hooked on because they needed a leading lady for their cinematic masterpiece.

This brings up another curious issue. There seems to be no shortage of people who are totally willing to do some pretty shocking things to pay their bills; or even just for the hell of it, maybe because they heard somewhere that it’s cool to “live fast, die young, and leave a good-looking corpse.”

Statistically speaking, it does seem as if there ought to be enough voluntary actresses to fulfill the industry’s requirements. And yet, according to this organization, and difficult as it may be to believe, “exploitation and trafficking are common experiences in the porn industry.” In the known cases uncovered by this research, the victims who were, according to the legal definition, “trafficked” began their careers as minors, at the average age of 12.

Written by Pat Hartman. First published April 23, 2026.

Sources:

“Revealing the harmful effects of porn. Empowering real change.,” FightTheNewDrug.org, undated.

“Quote Origin: Live Fast, Die Young, and Leave a Beautiful Corpse,” QuoteInvestigator.com, undated.

Image Copyright: RibhavAgrawal/Pixabay.