Yes, provided it truly can be documented that all the participants are of legal age and participating fully of their free will and not through slavery or through even coersion. What two adults choose to participate in together is their own business - literally. And frankly if you make it legal you could tax it and put health requirements on the industry as well.

Most developed nations agree that capitalism is one of the best economic systems that have been designed until now, evidence of this is the fact that the majority of strong developed nations have chosen to follow this path.

All capitalist economies function under the laws of supply and demand. If there is a demand in a society, then there will naturally be companies or organisations that form and will continue doing so until they fulfil such demand at which point the economy will reach a point of equilibrium. And both suppliers and demanders for that certain service will be satisfied.

I see therefor no reason why sex should not be sold as a service. Since many people demand and/or desire sex, and not everyone is looking for (or is able to have) a relationship, it stands to reason that they would desire sex by itself. This is why prostitution arose, to fulfil that demand. If the demand is not filled this results in potential welfare gain (synonymous with welfare loss) as economists put it. This means that the demand for the product is unsatisfied because no one is able to meet the demand, and therefor there will be unhappiness (Which can take many forms such as in this case: sexual frustration, chronic loneliness, etc). Now in this case the welfare loss is very important.

People who are extremely sexually frustrated are highly more likely to commit sexual harassment or rape, which in turn would increase the crime rate in a nation. Additionally, people who are chronically lonely tend to die earlier, and loneliness is also one of the highest reasons for suicide. Therefore if the demand for sex is met, a country would be able to minimise these terrible situations.

Now by now what many of you may be saying is that indeed there are also many cons in the prostitution realm. Indeed this is true, many countries have illegal human trafficking and parallel activity prostitution cartels, and this is terrible for the women, men, and children that are forced to work for these ventures. On the other hand, if prostitution is legalised, all prostitution enterprises would be regulated by the government to ensure safety and ethical standards (which would in turn eradicate injustice and all the other woes of illegal prostitution).

The only people that would be working in the prostitution industry would therefore be working in those jobs because of their own choice. Just like porn stars are working in a sexual industry too out of their own volition, but no one is saying they are being abused or that they are unhappy with their profession.

In conclusion if prostitution is legal, not only would illegal and unethical black market prostitution cartels be eradicated or almost eliminated, but in addition the demands of people who desire sex without a relationship would be met, therefor avoiding welfare loss. Win win situation :D

If anyone would like to disagree, bring it on ;)

Simply put, the government does not have a legitimate right to dictate what we can or can not do with our bodies so long as it does not involve causing harm to others. If we can sell our labor in almost any form, then there's no compelling argument to make an exception for sex.

So long as all parties are free actors, that is. I would however argue that a "public good" argument could easily be made for the regulation of it, for the good of all involved.

Yes it should be legal and if the prostitute fails to practice safe sex she gets prosecuted for assault.

Prostitution is a means for the poor - male and female alike, and you'd probably be surprised the number of the former - to make the money they need to survive in this capitalist economy. The pay can be good, the hours are whatever the prostitute wants them to be, and the risk of STDs is low provided the proper efforts are taken to prevent them. Without the income from prostitution, many women and their children would go hungry and homeless.

Without the protection of the law - thus legalization - many prostitutes are forced into inhuman circumstances by pimps or traffickers. Getting help and breaking the cycle can be next to impossible. By legalizing, the prostitute need be less secretive, more informed and intelligent about the means she goes about it, and all-around safer.

So long as prostitution is illegal, the would-be john has far less inclination to pay: prostitution is sex for payment; minus the payment, the would-be prostitute becomes a rape victim but, because of the illegality, she has little recourse without fearing the possibility of retaliation against herself. Legalization will protect the worker, and will thus help protect the john.

Nevada is a perfect example. Surely we've all seen the docs on TV where they show the frequent STD tests, the levels that are gone to protect the worker from physical violence, and the all-around more pleasant atmosphere. While such is surely a more positive example than is likely to be found in most situations, the fact remains that without legality, safety becomes a dream rather than a reality.