--- title: Utah Lawmaker Seeks to Declare Porn ‘Public Health Hazard’ description: A Utah lawmaker has introduced a resolution to declare pornography a “public health hazard.” canonical: https://time.com/4201493/utah-pornography-public-health-hazard/ author: Melissa Chan article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-01-31T17:01:13.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-03-31T09:09:48.833Z article:section: Politics og:title: Utah Lawmaker Wants to Declare Pornography a ‘Public Health Hazard’ og:description: The “pornography epidemic” is harming the state, he says og:url: https://time.com/4201493/utah-pornography-public-health-hazard/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: TIME og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Utah Lawmaker Wants to Declare Pornography a ‘Public Health Hazard’ twitter:description: The “pornography epidemic” is harming the state, he says twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- # Utah Lawmaker Wants to Declare Pornography a ‘Public Health Hazard’  by [Melissa Chan](https://time.com/author/melissa-chan/)  ## Melissa Chan Jan 31, 2016 5:01 PM UTC  by [Melissa Chan](https://time.com/author/melissa-chan/)  ## Melissa Chan Jan 31, 2016 5:01 PM UTC A Utah lawmaker has introduced a resolution to [declare pornography a “public health hazard.”](http://fox13now.com/2016/01/29/senate-resolution-in-utah-seeks-to-declare-porn-a-public-health-crisis/) Republican Sen. Todd Weiler [filed the bill last week](http://le.utah.gov/~2016/bills/static/SCR009.html) to battle what he calls a “pornography epidemic that is harming the citizens of Utah and the nation.” The resolution urges education and policy changes to stop pornography exposure and addiction, which it says leads to the hypersexualization of teens, prostitution and cheating spouses, among other problems. Pornography use is “linked to lessening desire in young men to marry, dissatisfaction in marriage, and infidelity,” the resolution says. Utah Lawmaker Seeks to Declare Porn ‘Public Health Hazard’ ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4201493/utah-pornography-public-health-hazard/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4201493/utah-pornography-public-health-hazard/"},"headline":"Utah Lawmaker Wants to Declare Pornography a ‘Public Health Hazard’","datePublished":"2016-01-31T17:01:13.000Z","dateModified":"2026-03-31T09:09:48.833Z","description":"The “pornography epidemic” is harming the state, he says","url":"https://time.com/4201493/utah-pornography-public-health-hazard/","keywords":["Utah"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Melissa Chan","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/melissa-chan/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4201493/utah-pornography-public-health-hazard/","name":"Utah Lawmaker Wants to Declare Pornography a ‘Public Health Hazard’"}}]}] ```