Jared DeWitt

Letter to the Council of the City of Los Angeles

May 3rd, 2012 113 N. San Francisco St. #204 Flagstaff, AZ. 86001

The Honorable Bill Rosendahl, Paul Koretz, and other members of the Council, respectfully.
Los Angeles City Hall 200 North Spring St. Los Angeles, CA 90012

Dear Council Members: I am writing to support the mandate for condom use in the adult film industry and to ask for your vigilance in forcing the matter. As a member of the professional medical community I have witnessed the fatigued death of HIV/AIDS patients. As student of infectious diseases I am prepared myself to argue the merits of your motion to mandate condom usage, both in the film and photographic industry As the implementers of such a law, you are in the unique position to affect HIV incidence rates well beyond the community of the adult industry. Consumers of the adult industry will be also be affected by the required usage of condoms vis--vis their positive association of condoms with the act of sex and the pleasure derived thereof. Continued vigilance on your part will lead to the successful acceptance of Condom Law. Please allow me to explain the benefits of Condom Law as well as provide examples of similar laws, ideas, occurrences, and societal behavior changes that have previously impacted health on the global scale; examples of which that provide ammunition for your argument but also serve as palatable examples to the public that explain the positive longterm impact of this issue, garnering support and votes. The following list, while brief in length, is voluminous in breadth: Seat Belt Laws Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) awareness campaign Ban on Smoking in Film The Death With Dignity Act Keep America Beautiful campaign Following this letter are the detailed explanations of condom law, condom programming, social programming and the affluence of data behind each topic.

Thank you so much for you time and help. Sincerely, Jared B. DeWitt II 928-853-1559

Affecting HIV Because complacency is the primary cause of continued transmission in the US, HIV thrives due to the lack of fear towards the virus; HIV is no longer a death sentence, but a manageable chronic illness (Monroy.) Humans are the only reservoir for HIV so the actions and activities of our species, our ecology, is the occasion of HIV. If humans can become heavily influenced to participate in techniques recommended to reduce HIV transmission, and thusly do so, then the subsequent decrease in HIV infection rates in the US will directly impact the inharmonious natural state of the disease within its reservoir, which is to say that if we stop transmitting the virus we begin to eradicate it altogether.

Condom Programming The idea behind condom programming is to not only provide access to condoms, especially to the poor, but to reduce new infection or transmission of the virus by shining a positive light on condoms in order to influence their usage. Condom programming at once identifies problematic communities (communities with highest HIV incidence) while simultaneously identifying the key medium at which condom education can be the most effective. Education within the communities where HIV incidence is highest is the primary goal of condom programming. Through pornography, condom programming can reach the exact demographics of highest HIV incidence, twofold, by directly influencing heterosexual adolescents and homosexual adult males.

-UNFPA

HIV in the U.S. Population African-Americans represent approximately 14% of the U.S. population, but account for 44% of new HIV infections. 16% of the U.S. population is where the Puerto Rican community lies and with it 20% of new HIV infections (Prejean.) In the community of men who have sex with Men (MSM) the statistics are overwhelmingly different, with White MSM at the forefront on new infection rates followed closely by Black MSM. This coincides with the highest rate of HIV infection in the gay community, where the most common consumers of subscription pornography are adult males (Journal.)

-CDC

African-American and Puerto Rican adolescent males (age 12-17) are disproportionately affected by HIV (CDC) where it is shown that Puerto Ricans were less likely to have used condoms in the past 12 months, with an attributing factor being the belief that condoms reduce pleasure (Voisin.) In the US, males in the age range 12-17 represent the largest consumers of free pornography- this is the same age range as the African-American and Puerto Rican adolescents who have the highest national average for HIV infection. Whether by coincidence or not, the two highest communities for HIV infection are also the two highest consumer groups of pornography. The goals of condom law (the usage of condom by sex workers) and the strategies of condom programming (the influence of condom usage by the consumers of pornography) are one and the same.

Direct Correlation You, the members of the City Council, felt strongly enough to file a motion to force condom usage by actors in any pornographic film shot within your city, a motion that decries the infection rates of HIV in California.

-CDPH

In your own words: It is critical that we do everything we can to stop the spread of HIV and other STDs, including the spread of HIV in the adult film industry. The use of condoms works to stop the spread of HIV, and should be mandated in the adult industry. I therefore move.. that there is a need to take immediate action.. to appropriately regulate condom use in the adult industry. -Bill Rosendahl & Paul Koretz This is where promotion of condoms becomes paramount in the human ecological factor of HIV infection: Condom promotion statistically shows a major decline of HIV-1 incidence among sex workers (Lancet) and linking sexual pleasure with condom use produces a measurable increase of positive attitudes towards condoms and condom use (Pollack.) Strategic condom programming promotes communication for behavior change with the end goal of reducing the number of unprotected sex acts, which will in turn reduce the incidence of HIV (UNFPA.) Persuasive communication is one facet of strategic condom programming, and has been used in the US to curtail smoking by banning the act of smoking on film and in television, as shown in the upcoming section of examples.

Persuasive Communication The goal of requiring condoms in adult films relies heavily on changing peoples perception of condoms, that is, if every actor in pornography wears a condom, then condom wearing during sex is perceived as apart of the pleasure and therefore normal and expected. Persuasive communication is defined as the act of socially engineering a favorable outcome, or, the attempt to change people's behavior by influencing their perception of what is normal. The usage of such social norm techniques have been far ranging, from anti littering campaigns to anti texting laws, each with subsequent, positive results.

1. The National Cancer Institute concluded that smoking in movies is causally linked to youth smoking:
Smoking in movies affects how youth and adults view the social acceptability of smoking and perceptions of the functions of smoking, as well as its consequences (NCI.)

The ban on smoking in films was a successful intervention towards curbing underage smoking. The number of onscreen tobacco incidents in youth-rated movies decreased 71.6 percent after the ban went into effect. Secondary to stopping underage smoking was the drop in rate of premature births and the reported 17% drop in heart attacks in the first year alone by the American Heart Association (AHA.)

2. Back to Sleep is an initiative backed by the National Institute of Child Health and human Development to encourage parents to have their infants sleep on their backs to reduce the risk of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS). Since its implementation, the incidence of SIDS declined by 50% within the first decade (National Institute of Health.) 3. 35 states have enacted anti texting & driving laws. Statistics pending publication. 4. In Oregon, the Death with Dignity act allows for doctor-assisted suicide. The attention given to Dr. Jack Kevorkian on TV helped bring the issue to the forefront and is responsible for the acceptance of the law. 5. In 2011, a worldwide blackberry (cellphone) outage lasted for four days. During those four days traffic accidents in Abu Dhabi decreased by 40%; 20% in Dubai. 6. Anti-spitting laws were passed to control the spread of tuberculosis, involving public media and cultural shifts that were quite new to the modern world at that time. 7. Keep America Beautiful, a non-profit organization, introduced the world to the Crying Indian in 1971. From that public service announcement, into the year 2012, the effort has removed 76 million pounds of litter from landscapes and waterways, recycled 15.3 million pounds of metals, 91.5 millions pounds of newsprint, 1.1 million tires and 7.2 million pounds of electronics, involving an estimated 3.9 million volunteers and participants (KAB.org.) 8. Seat belts laws went into effect and their use rate is now at 90%, preventing an estimated 5,536 fatalities and132,670 injuries, while simultaneously saving the nation $8.8 billion annually (National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.)

Whether by law or public initiative, these examples and their effect of changing human behavior, have been repeatedly positive. The epidemic of HIV continues to grow because of the absence of a protective vaccine and the continuation of high-risk sexual behavior. Promoting condoms through socially favorable mediums, particularly pornography, will garner the usage of condoms in its viewers. If men, especially gay men and adolescents, can be reached and persuaded by any means to use condoms consistently and correctly, the infection rates of HIV can be expected to drop by an outstanding 60 to 96 percent (UNFPA.) You are the progenitors of a movement that will bring positive widespread change. Thank You, Jared B. DeWitt II

Works Cited AHA. Lightwood, J. M., Glantz, S.A. Declines in Acute Myocardial Infarction After Smoke-Free Laws and Individual Risk Attributable to Secondhand Smoke. n.d. April 2012. http://circ.ahajournals.org/content/120/14/1373.full CDC. HIV/AIDS surveillance. June 2000. Atlanta, GA: Centers for Disease Control. CDPH. California HIV/AIDS Surveillance Statistical Reports. n.d. 04/2012. California Department of Public Health http://www.cdph.ca.gov/data/statistics/pages/oahivaidsstatistics.aspx Journal of Economic Perspectives. Red Light States: Who Buys Online Adult Entertainment? Vol 23. Num 1. Winter 2009. pp 209220. The Lancet. Condom promotion, sexually transmitted diseases treatment, and declining incidence of HIV-1 infection in female Zairian sex workers. Vol 344. Iss 8917. Pp 246248. 23 July 1994 doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(94)93005-8 MCNA. The Social Ecology of HIV/AIDS. Vol 92. Iss 6. Pp 1363-1375. Nov 2008. Medical Clinics of North America Monroy, F. P. Lecture notes. Infectious Disease. Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, Arizona. Jan 2012. NCI, The Role of the Media in Promoting and Reducing Tobacco Use, Smoking and Tobacco Control Monograph No. 19, NIH Pub. No. 07-6242, June 2008, National Cancer Institute http://cancercontrol.cancer.gov/tcrb/monographs/19/m19_complete.pdf. Pollack, R. H., Tanner, W. M. The Effect of Condom Use and Erotic Instructions on Attitudes toward Condoms. The Journal of Sex Research. Vol 25. Pp 537 - 541 Nov 4. Nov. 1988 Prejean J, Song R, Hernandez A, Ziebell R, Green T, et al. (2011) Estimated HIV Incidence in the United States. 2006-2009. PLoS ONE 6(8): e17502. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0017502. UNFPA. Preventing HIV Infection. n.d. 04/2012. United Nations Population Fund http://www.unfpa.org/hiv/prevention/hivprev6b.htm Viosin, D. (in press). Victims of community violence and HIV sexual risk behavior among African American adolescent makes. Journal of HIV/AIDS Prevention & Education for Adolescents & Children