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Nearly every gay bar in London have a big perspex box on the counter with free condoms. And nice do-gooder types from AIDS prevention charities who wander aroun

Nearly every gay bar in London have a big perspex box on the counter with free condoms. And nice do-gooder types from AIDS prevention charities who wander around giving out condoms. Given the multitude of health and social problems that not using condoms brings to people gay and straight, I'd suggest it's high time that they start doing this in more (non-gay) bars and nightclubs. For the cost of a small piece of rubber, society can reduce unwanted pregnancies, expensive abortions (20¢ for a bulk-purchase condom vs. hundreds of dollars for terminations), HIV transmission and all sorts of other sexually transmitted diseases. As preventative public health measures go, providing condoms free in bars and nightclubs seems like a sensible strategy.

TazeTSchnitzel 14y ago
>Nearly every gay bar in London have a big perspex box on the counter with free condoms. Funny you mention gay people on an article about condoms. The industry likes to ignore our existence.
- tommorris 14y ago
  To be fair, I have never had to buy condoms ever. The condom industry don't need to advertise to freeloaders...
jiggy2011 14y ago
If you start just handing out condoms to drunk people 90% of them are going to be used for purposes other than their intended one. Condoms are available for free at most health clinics. I would guess that in most cases they are not used because they make sex less fun rather than because they are unavailable.
- evincarofautumn 14y ago
  “…going to be used for purposes other than their intended one.” I used to volunteer in an improv troupe sponsored by the local family services organisation. Part of that was doing issue-oriented shows, AIDS education, that sort of thing. We quickly learned that you can only hand out condoms to people in “serious mode”—if you do it right after a comedy sketch, there are slippery balloon animals on the horizon. “…they make sex less fun…” Depending on the individual, of course. I like condoms because they mitigate some of the sensitivity from multiple rounds.
- stcredzero 14y ago
  > If you start just handing out condoms to drunk people 90% of them are going to be used for purposes other than their intended one. Yes, but they're not that expensive to buy in bulk. > I would guess that in most cases they are not used because they make sex less fun rather than because they are unavailable. There are times when you just don't have one. My ex was a bit paranoid and would never have sex without a condom, so less fun was a non-issue. You can't safely store a condom next to your body, so keeping one in your pocket is sub-optimal. You can't leave them in your car for the same reasons. You can keep them stocked at home, but sometimes you end up at "her place" and maybe she ran out or you forgot to bring more over. Sometimes you go on a weekend trip and forget to pack them, but only discover this at midnight. Sometimes stuff happens, and in that moment, people will pay a lot to have one.

TazeTSchnitzel 14y ago

>Nearly every gay bar in London have a big perspex box on the counter with free condoms. Funny you mention gay people on an article about condoms. The industry likes to ignore our existence.

tommorris 14y ago
To be fair, I have never had to buy condoms ever. The condom industry don't need to advertise to freeloaders...

jiggy2011 14y ago

If you start just handing out condoms to drunk people 90% of them are going to be used for purposes other than their intended one. Condoms are available for free at most health clinics. I would guess that in most cases they are not used because they make sex less fun rather than because they are unavailable.

evincarofautumn 14y ago
“…going to be used for purposes other than their intended one.” I used to volunteer in an improv troupe sponsored by the local family services organisation. Part of that was doing issue-oriented shows, AIDS education, that sort of thing. We quickly learned that you can only hand out condoms to people in “serious mode”—if you do it right after a comedy sketch, there are slippery balloon animals on the horizon. “…they make sex less fun…” Depending on the individual, of course. I like condoms because they mitigate some of the sensitivity from multiple rounds.
stcredzero 14y ago
> If you start just handing out condoms to drunk people 90% of them are going to be used for purposes other than their intended one. Yes, but they're not that expensive to buy in bulk. > I would guess that in most cases they are not used because they make sex less fun rather than because they are unavailable. There are times when you just don't have one. My ex was a bit paranoid and would never have sex without a condom, so less fun was a non-issue. You can't safely store a condom next to your body, so keeping one in your pocket is sub-optimal. You can't leave them in your car for the same reasons. You can keep them stocked at home, but sometimes you end up at "her place" and maybe she ran out or you forgot to bring more over. Sometimes you go on a weekend trip and forget to pack them, but only discover this at midnight. Sometimes stuff happens, and in that moment, people will pay a lot to have one.