Florida House declares porn a public health risk

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Lawmaker wants porn declared a public health risk

At least six states have passed resolutions that say porn is a health concern; Ellison Barber reports from Washington.

Florida lawmakers on Tuesday declared pornography a health risk, and called for more research on its effects.

The House of Representatives approved a resolution, which states there needs to be more education, research and policy changes to protect Florida residents from porn.

"Research has found a correlation between pornography use and mental and physical illnesses, difficulty forming and maintaining intimate relationships, unhealthy brain development and cognitive function, and deviant, problematic or dangerous sexual behavior," Republican Rep. Ross Spano told the state’s House Health & Human Services Committee in January.

IS PORNOGRAPHY A PUBLIC HEALTH THREAT?

Democratic Rep. Carlos Guillermo Smith criticized Tuesday’s vote, saying there are more important issues — such as gun control — that should be looked at by the House.

“17 pp in Parkland were just murdered w/an AR-15, + the FL House just passed @RossSpano's HR 157 declaring PORN as a public health risk,” the rep tweeted. “No, GUN VIOLENCE is a public health crisis + Spano blocked HB 219 banning assault weapons in his committee for 2 yrs.”

The House voted down a rejected ban on large-capacity magazines and weapons such as the AR-15, which was used by alleged Florida high school shooter Nikolas Cruz.

A similar resolution is in the state Senate and has yet to be heard in a committee.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.