Fight the New Drug

Fight the New Drug is a nonprofit, non-religous and non-legislative anti-pornography organization founded in 2009 and based in Utah.[2][3][4]

Fight the New Drug
Formation2009 (2009)
Legal status501(c)(3) organization[1]
Purposeanti-pornography
HeadquartersSalt Lake City, Utah, United States
Websitefightthenewdrug.org

The group was founded by members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS church), but has no formal connection to the LDS.[5][6] Fight the New Drug describes pornography as a drug and argues that it is a public health issue.[7][8]

Activities

The group works people aged 18 to 24 through presentations and video campaigns,[9] and through student outreach activities in public school districts within Utah.[10] In a 2015 campaign, Fight the New Drug posted 100 billboards in the San Francisco Bay Area stating "Porn Kills Love".[7] In addition, the group promotes its campaign via a social media presence and by selling merchandise, such as T-shirts and marketing kits.[3][4] In 2018, the group released a three-part documentary film entitled Brain, Heart, World.[11]

Support

A number of public figures have endorsed Fight the New Drug: these include Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff;[6] sports personalities including Terry Crews[12] and Lamar Odom; [13] actress Marisol Nichols;[14] and YouTuber Chaz Smith.[15] In March 2018, the Kansas City Royals held a Fight the New Drug anti-pornography seminar for players during their spring training.[16]

Criticism

Fight the New Drug has been criticised as holding an "openly ideologically-driven strategy"[3] and the group's message; in particular its categorising of porn as a drug, as pseudoscience; contradictory to neuroscience research. The group have been alleged to be an example of continued influence by LDS Church members over social issues: for example their use of billboards in San Francisco intentionally to target socially progressive regions.[7] In a Salt Lake Tribune op-ed a group of sex therapists said that Fight the New Drug's leaders and presenters were not mental health nor sexuality professionals and did not have sufficient training to address these subjects appropriately.[10]

References
  1. "Nonprofit Explorer – Fight the New Drug Inc". ProPublica. Retrieved April 27, 2019.
  2. LaPlante, Matthew (February 17, 2018). "In Utah, the fight against porn is increasingly being framed as a public health crisis". Washington Post. Retrieved May 2, 2019.
  3. Hablin, James (April 14, 2016). "Inside the Movement to Declare Pornography a 'Health Crisis'". The Atlantic. Retrieved April 13, 2019.
  4. Dickson, EJ (May 7, 2014). "Can a non-religious Web-savvy campaign against pornography work?". The Daily Dot. Retrieved April 21, 2019.
  5. "About Fight The New Drug - Who We Are and What Our Mission Is". Fight the New Drug. Retrieved October 20, 2019.
  6. "Group is fighting against 'the new drug' — pornography". Deseret News. January 26, 2010. Retrieved April 13, 2019.
  7. Allen, Samantha (October 20, 2015). "'Porn Kills Love': Mormons' Anti-Smut Crusade". The Daily Beast. Retrieved April 13, 2019.
  8. Ley, David J. (July 25, 2013). "Your Brain on Porn – It's NOT Addictive". Psychology Today. Retrieved April 13, 2019.
  9. Funaro, Vincent (July 30, 2014). "Is Porn Addiction A Public Health Issue? 'Fight the New Drug' Warns About the Dangers of Pornography". The Christian Post.
  10. Parker, Natasha Helfer; Hodson, Kristin; Bennion, Kristin Marie; Hickman, Shannon (October 2, 2016). "Op-ed: Utah students need real sex ed, not 'Fight the New Drug'". The Salt Lake Tribune. Retrieved April 13, 2019.
  11. West, Perry (November 25, 2018). "New documentary shows individual, societal threat of pornography". Catholic News Agency.
  12. Stecklow, Sam (February 24, 2016). "Terry Crews Has Been Posting Intense Anti-Masturbation, Anti-Internet Videos on His Facebook Page for Two Weeks". New York Magazine. Retrieved October 29, 2020.
  13. "Lamar Odom 'got saved' Sunday, credits Jesus for keeping him alive after near-death incident". FOX 5 DC. November 1, 2019. Retrieved October 29, 2020.
  14. Consider Before Consuming
  15. Goins-Phillips, Tré (August 7, 2019). "YouTube Star Shares His Own Experience With Pornography, Why He's Now Fighting It". Faithwire. Retrieved October 29, 2020.
  16. Gleeson, Scott (March 18, 2018). "Royals hold anti-pornography seminar for players at spring training". USA Today. Retrieved October 29, 2020.
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