(NEW YORK, NY) -- Consider the following quote and try to imagine who might have uttered it: ``I am a very sex-positive person. I believe sex is a good and beautiful gift. While we need to be caring and responsible, we also should lighten up and emphasize the enjoyment and pleasure of sex before, during and after marriage. With that in mind I want to put in a good word for pornography.''

We don't know whom you might have guessed, but we bet it wasn't an Episcopalian priest from one of the most prominent parishes in San Francisco. Father Robert Warren Cromey, rector of Trinity Episcopal Church, makes the remarks in an essay in the August issue of Penthouse magazine.

The plain-spoken priest says: ``I think Christian church people need to get off their high horses; they must stop condemning pornography while knowing little about it...I can't imagine Jesus being concerned bout depictions of sex. He was busy enough condemning hypocrisy and legalism and urging folks to love and forgive.'' (Pg. 80; interview available with Father Robert Warren Cromey)

Also in the August Penthouse...

Simply possessing marijuana can result in criminal sanctions ranging from the equivalent parking ticket to the death penalty. A major investigative report called ``Reefer Mindless'' in the August issue of Penthouse uncovers stunning examples of how the decades-long war against marijuana has landed over 43,000 Americans behind bars today, many because they smoked pot for legitimate medical reasons. Despite the horror stories, writer Michael Simmons believes that ``this official reefer madness (could) end possibly sooner than anyone thinks.''

As writer Simmons says, ``One day, we will look back on the mighty War on Drugs and find it inconceivable that there was a time when we had to piss in jars as part of our employment, that sick people were denied efficacious medication, that law enforcement paid for itself with the seized assets of pot farmers that someone could simply be arrested for smoking a weed.'' (Pg. 24; interview available with Michael Simmons)

The August Penthouse magazine goes on sale June 27, 2000.

For more information or interviews:

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