Imagine someone is born with a unique brain abnormality that results in them "feeling drunk" 24/7. It never wears off; they have reduced inhibitions, sloppiness, impaired judgment and balance, etc., permanently.
Could this person (as an adult) ever meaningfully consent to sex?
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A reasonable model for "yes" here but "no" for normal drunks is that you eventually gain enough experience making decisions while drunk to consent which implies there are normal people who are at the requisite number of "drunk hours" to consent while drunk (they're Russians).
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As a person who has been drunk...I may have meaningfully consented to sex while drunk, every time.
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That condition exists btw. These people are not allowed to drive.
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Conditions in which people have poor impulse control, poor abstract reasoning abilities (ie, consequences of actions), and poor motor control, permanently - already exists. Those are all symptoms of down's at the minimum. The short answer is "Yes" but great care must be taken.
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Can people with comparable mental disabilities consent under the law now?
Drinking is a choice, this handicap wouldn't be, and they'd have no context for clear-minded decision making.
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I think we'd probably have to make allowances for them in that case. I think it'd be clearly ok if it seemed like a durable preference, ie they consistently want to have sex with a given person rather than it being a whim
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How impaired is their judgment?
Although not optimal, one person’s “drunk” impaired judgment might still be functionally higher than another person’s “sober” judgment 🥃
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