California's system of local ballot initiatives sometimes has voters weighing in on odd things but we're pretty sure they haven't ever voted on whether people wear condoms, nor on the specifics of pornography production. That's what Angelenos will do after a measure qualified for the ballot in L.A. to require condoms in porn. Unless a legal challenge from City Attorney Carmen Trutanich succeeds, Los Angeles voters are due to decide in June whether porn actors should be required to wear condoms when filming in the city as an issue of workplace safety. Lest you think it's a merely symbolic law, remember, about two thirds of the San Fernando Valley is considered part of the city of Los Angeles, and that little slice of the southland is where they make the bulk of U.S.-produced adult films. Mandating condoms in porn would be a little like barring risky behavior like smoking in Hollywood movies, and on about the same scale. Of course, the difference is that risky behavior gone awry in regular Hollywood movies doesn't usually lead to an industry-wide shutdown the way an HIV scare does in porn.

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Adam Martin