You won’t find Fight the New Drug protesting porn on the steps of state capitol buildings. We don’t take petitions around trying to get signatures for a porn ban. We certainly don’t have the power or authority to ban porn, even if that was our goal.
What you will see us doing is championing healthy relationships and real love by raising awareness when it comes to the facts about porn’s harmful effects and its link to sexual exploitation and sex trafficking, educating high school and college students in live assemblies, and wearing our gear (which is great for starting conversations). We’ve even made a documentary about how porn can negatively impact consumers, relationships, and our larger society.
Why do we spend so much time and attention on these efforts? Because we think consumers should have access to the research and science surrounding the harm that can be caused by porn. That way, consumers can make an informed, intentional decision regarding the choice to click.
Fight the New Drug’s Mission
Fight the New Drug’s mission as a non-religious and non-legislative organization is to provide individuals the opportunity to make an informed decision regarding pornography by raising awareness on its harmful effects using only science, facts, and personal accounts.
Our mission statement was created in 2009 along with our organization to guide our efforts in decreasing the demand for porn—not by restricting it—by teaching about its potential harms and by fighting for real love instead.
Fight the New Drug believes that every person has the right to their own opinion about porn, whether it’s in line with our mission or not. That’s why we are not actively fighting against already legal types of porn. We believe that both knowledge and love can have a more effective influence than legislation.
Education and Awareness
In a letter to our Fighters, Clay Olsen (Co-founder and President of Fight the New Drug) states the ultimate goal of Fight the New Drug is to use education to decrease the demand for porn by making people aware of its proven negative effects.
If porn is banned, the industry would not be likely to decrease in either size or impact, but will just move underground to appease consumers who demand or are addicted to the content. However, making consumers aware of all the personal and societal damage porn causes can diminish demand at the source. Consider that both child sexual abuse material—commonly known as “child porn”—and sex trafficking are already illegal, yet still happen all over the U.S.
We’re convinced that once people understand the science that connects porn to sexual exploitation and sex trafficking, they’ll make their own decision to lead a healthier lifestyle for themselves, for the people they love, and for society as a whole.
The Bottom Line
Fight the New Drug doesn’t exist to outlaw legal forms of porn or to bully or shame its consumers. We’re simply here to talk about the actual harms of porn so that people can make their own educated choice. We provide the information, you make the decision.
While we do support non-restrictive resolutions that many states have implemented to declare porn a public health concern, we believe bans are neither very effective nor required for decreasing demand for sexual exploitation.
Fight the New Drug does not exist to take away the right for adults to view legal forms of porn. However, we are confident that once consumers understand the research, they’ll choose for themselves that porn is not for them.
