Net porn compared to cocaine

It's the new crack cocaine, according to clinicians and researchers testifying on Capitol Hill. They said Internet pornography leads to "addiction, misogyny, pedophilia, boob jobs and erectile dysfunction, Wired News reports. Testifying before the Senate Commerce Committee's Science, Technology and Space Subcommittee, Mary Anne Layden of the University of Pennsylvania's Center for Cognitive Therapy, called the Internet "the perfect drug delivery system." It removes inefficiencies, such as the middleman or having to get to some physical place to partake. About the "drug" itself, she said, "porn addicts have a more difficult time recovering from their addiction than cocaine addicts, since coke users can get the drug out of their system, but pornographic images stay in the brain forever." Testifiers acknowledged, though, that "there is no consensus among mental health professionals about the dangers of porn or the use of the term 'pornography addiction'," according to Wired News, and many psychologists find the term problematic.

In related news, Spain's National Police this week announced they "have arrested 90 people, including 21 juveniles, in the country's largest operation against child pornography distribution." CNN reports that the arrests occurred in 26 provinces, and the "suspects include schoolteachers, students, software engineers, civil servants, military personnel and domestic cleaning personnel."