Fight the New Drug (FTND) is a nonprofit, secular, and non-legislative

anti-pornography Reasons for opposition to pornography include religious objections and feminist concerns (for specific sectors of feminism), as well as alleged harmful effects, such as pornography addiction. Pornography addiction is not a condition recognized ...

organization that is based in

Utah Utah ( , ) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. Utah is a landlocked U.S. state bordered to its east by Colorado, to its northeast by Wyoming, to its north by Idaho, to its south by Arizona, and to it ...

. The group was founded in

in 2009. FTND describes

pornography Pornography (often shortened to porn or porno) is the portrayal of sexual subject matter for the exclusive purpose of sexual arousal. Primarily intended for adults,

as analogous to a drug and argues that it is a

public health Public health is "the science and art of preventing disease, prolonging life and promoting health through the organized efforts and informed choices of society, organizations, public and private, communities and individuals". Analyzing the det ...

crisis. It describes itself as asking people to "consider before consuming", rather than advocating anti-pornography legislation.

Activities

The group works with people aged 18 to 24 through presentations and video campaigns, and through student outreach activities in public school districts within Utah. In a 2015 campaign, FTND posted 100 billboards in the

San Francisco Bay Area The San Francisco Bay Area, often referred to as simply the Bay Area, is a populous region surrounding the San Francisco, San Pablo, and Suisun Bay estuaries in Northern California. The Bay Area is defined by the Association of Bay Area Go ...

stating "Porn Kills Love". In March 2018 the

Kansas City Royals The Kansas City Royals are an American professional baseball team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Royals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. The team was founded as an expans ...

held a FTND anti-pornography seminar for players during their spring training, and in November of that year FTND released a three-part documentary film entitled ''Brain, Heart, World''. In addition, the group promotes its campaign via a social media presence, branded merchandise, such as T-shirts, and marketing kits.

Support

A number of public figures have endorsed the group: these include

Utah Attorney General The Attorney General of Utah is an elected constitutional officer in the executive branch of the state government of Utah. The attorney general is the chief legal officer and legal adviser in the state. The office is elected, with a term of four ye ...

Mark Shurtleff Mark Leonard Shurtleff (born August 9, 1957) is an American attorney, former three-term Utah Attorney General, and founder of the Shurtleff Law Firm and the Shurtleff Group. He was a partner in the Washington, D.C. office of the law firm Troutma ...

; sports personalities

Terry Crews Terry Alan Crews (born July 30, 1968) is an American actor, television host, and former American footballer. He played Julius Rock in the UPN/ CW sitcom ''Everybody Hates Chris'', which aired from 2005 to 2009, and portrayed Terry Jeffords in ...

and

Lamar Odom Lamar Joseph Odom (born November 6, 1979) is an American former professional basketball player. As a member of the Los Angeles Lakers in the National Basketball Association (NBA), he won championships in 2009 and 2010 and was named the NBA Six ...

; actress

Marisol Nichols Marisol Nichols (born November 2, 1973) is an American actress, known for her roles as Nadia Yassir on the Fox series '' 24'' and Hermione Lodge on the CW drama series '' Riverdale''. Early life Nichols was born in the Rogers Park neighbor ...

; and YouTuber Chaz Smith. The National Center on Sexual Exploitation, a non-profit devoted to ending sexual assault and child sex abuse, is also supportive of the FTND organization. The NCSE highlights a mission of theirs being "exposing the public-health crisis of pornography." FTND also promotes awareness for sexual health and sexual exploitation. On their YouTube channel, there are numerous videos and documentaries of people speaking about their experiences within the porn industry. They also have a website for others to share their stories. One notable story on their channel is of the most successful male porn star speaking out against the harm he experienced and witnessed in the porn industry.

Criticism

FTND has been criticized as holding an "openly ideology-driven strategy" and the group's message, in particular its categorizing of porn as a drug, as pseudoscience, contradictory to neuroscience research. The group have been alleged to be an example of continued influence by members of

the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, informally known as the LDS Church or Mormon Church, is a Nontrinitarianism, nontrinitarian Christianity, Christian church that considers itself to be the Restorationism, restoration of the ...

over social issues. An example is their use of billboards in San Francisco intentionally to target a socially progressive region. In a ''

Salt Lake Tribune ''The Salt Lake Tribune'' is a newspaper published in the city of Salt Lake City, Utah. The ''Tribune'' is owned by The Salt Lake Tribune, Inc., a non-profit corporation. The newspaper's motto is "Utah's Independent Voice Since 1871." History A ...

'' op-ed, a group of

sex therapists Sex therapy is a strategy for the improvement of sexual function and treatment of sexual dysfunction. This includes sexual dysfunctions such as premature ejaculation or delayed ejaculation, erectile dysfunction, lack of sexual interest or arousal ...

said that FTND's leaders and presenters were not mental health or sexuality professionals, and were promoting false information and failing to educate children about either sexuality and human development, or the positive, as well as the negative, aspects of porn. Emily F. Rothman, Professor of Community Health Sciences at the

Boston University School of Public Health Boston University School of Public Health (BUSPH) is one of the graduate schools of Boston University. Founded in 1976, the School offers master's- and doctoral-level programs in public health. It is located in the heart of Boston University's Me ...

, stated in 2021 that "the professional public health community is not behind the recent push to declare pornography a public health crisis".

References

{{Authority control 2009 establishments in Utah 501(c)(3) organizations Anti-pornography movements Organizations established in 2009 Pseudoscience Non-profit organizations based in Utah