Chapter warns about pornography addiction
The first ever Utah State University chapter of Fight the New Drug, a non-profit organization with the goal to warn about the dangers of pornography, was formed last week, and its members are already planning events that will improve students’ knowledge about the lasting consequences of viewing pornographic material.
“Outside of a moral conversation, outside of a legislative conversation, we talked about this issue, and it really resonated with us,” said one of the organization’s founders, Clay Olsen.
Lynn Walker, president of USU’s Fight the New Drug chapter, said it is crucial students and others in the community understand that their group does not use the word “anti-” in relation to the group.
“This is a public health issue,” Olsen said, “if people want to take it to the religious realm that’s fine. Fifty years ago there was a large debate about whether tobacco is harmful, and we are facing the same thing now with pornography.”
Olsen, a USU alumnus, pioneered the group with Beau Lewis, Cam Lee and Ryan Werner, and in 2009 received status as a non-profit organization.
Fight the New Drug uses articles and research studies about the relationship of pornography to drugs as educational tools. The studies suggest the same chemicals that cause addiction to drugs are present when viewing pornography, said Zach Smith, a member of USU’s Fight the New Drug chapter.
Smith’s parents lead an addiction recovery program in Idaho, but he said this has not influenced his decision to become involved.
“This problem is bad at any age, but at a college level, when you are looking for marriage, pornography affects what you are looking for in a relationship,” Smith said.
Individuals who are addicted to pornography cannot love another person, Smith said, because they expect their relationships to be a certain way that isn’t realistic. When students are making the steps from dating to finding their lifetime partner, the effects of pornography build walls in that process, he said. College students may be more likely to begin viewing pornographic material, Smith said, because they are on their own, which makes temptation difficult to resist.
The chapter hopes to get involved in the community by conducting high school assemblies and other events that will grab Cache Valley citizens’ attention.
“Here, I feel people are so much more curious, and they get addicted that way,” Smith said.
Walker hopes the group will allow people to feel more comfortable about bringing pornography up as a serious issue.
“Nobody wants to talk about it because it’s a taboo topic,” Walker said. “It’s uncomfortable for people to talk about, so if we can be a resource for people to come to and see that it’s fine to talk about.”
From a female perspective, the club’s vice president Kylie Johnson said she became interested in the organization after learning its stance on intimacy in relationships. Olsen and the other founders decided to stress the importance of close relationships in contrast with the “disturbing” images contained in pornography, Johnson said.
“We are all affected,” Olsen said, “I had a cousin who was affected and now he is in prison.”
– catherine.meidell@aggiemail.usu.edu