SACRAMENTO — Quite the scene at the state Capitol on Monday, as Triple-X film stars squared off over a proposed tax on porn. The two sides told very different stories about what is going on behind the scenes.
Porn is a multi-billion dollar business in the US. 90 percent of videos are produced in Southern California.
Assemblyman Charles Calderon contends that porn leads to drug abuse, prostitution and other crimes, as well as mental and physical health issues that leave taxpayer’s footing the bill.
Former porn actress Shelly Lubben says sexually transmitted disease is rampant among actors, and so are drugs on set. “Marijuana and meth and you name it they’ll give it to you.”
Former stripper Daphne Khoury says she got hooked on heroin, was raped nine times and forced into prostitution. “There’s a lot of sexual slavery that goes on and a lot of people don’t talk about it.”
Calderon’s 25 percent tax on adult videos, books and magazines, and strip clubs would raise up to 700 million dollars for health programs and law enforcement.
Those who are down on the adult entertainment industry say it should pay its fair share for the problems it causes. But those who represent the industry say: “What problems?”
“This is a ridiculous tax being put on the adult entertainment industry without any support or evidence,” says Free Speech Coalition Executive Director, Diane Duke.
Kayden Kross is a former Sac State student who has been acting in adult films for a year and a half. “Everything they said is untrue from my experience.”
She says drug use and prostitution is not a big part of the current adult entertainment business. “We make more money shooting on camera than we make as prostitute. There’s no reason to be a prostitute as an adult performer.”
A 25 percent tax on a $10 adult video would cost you $2.50 more, industry people say it could get more expensive. “From time of production to when the DVD reaches the consumer, it could be taxed five times, at 25 percent, that’s absolutely ridiculous,” says Duke.
Driving porn production out of the state, they say, would cost California $4billion and 50 thousand jobs.