Is prostitution a good option for a cash-strapped student?

The BBC today released a news report that more and more students are turning to prostitution, gambling and medical experimentation as a means of keeping afloat financially. 

Now we have advocated on the blog before that the best kind of part-time work is one where you can fit your hours in around study, and where you get the maximum amount of money possible for the minimum amount of hours. Prostitution, gambling and medical experiments I suppose, fit this criteria very well. Too well. My mother always taught me if something sounds good to be true, then it probably is. 

So, with the EMA being scrapped, and student loans and grants being reduced, along with rising tuition fees, students have to find ways of making ends meet, financially speaking. And things like selling yourself might be attractive to some - and it never seemed to do Belle de Jour any harm, did it? After all, she got a PhD whilst leading a double life as a part-time call girl as well. 

But we can't all be as 'lucky' as Belle de Jour has turned out to be. It could've all been so much different for her, and for every Belle, there are hundreds of others who get caught up in a very disturbing world, from which there may be no return. The reason that prostitution, gambling and medical experiments are so highly paid is that the risks are high, and the losers are many. 

Blah, blah..... I don't want this to turn in to a rant about how you should all be good little students and stay away from the nasty people. What I want to know is this - have you, or do you know of anyone who has, made money from a less-than-conventional method to support themselves while studying?