Brenden Smith

11950 South 3200 West - Riverton, UT 84065

E-Mail: smith.brenden13@gmail.com

Date: May 30, 2016

The Honorable Gary Herbert
Governer
The Office of Gov. Gary R. Herbert
350 North State Street, Suite 200
PO Box 142220
Salt Lake City, Utah 84114

Dear Governer Herbert:

I am writing to you as a concerned citizen of the state. I am concerned for many things. But that
which I wish to address with you today is the recently declared public health crisis of
pornography.
On a regular basis I find myself on my phone, computer, or on the internet, harmlessly browsing
the web for the latest news articles on sports, politics, and breaking news. As regularly as I
pour over numerous articles, I am also confronted with ads advertising new singles in my
area and hot babes down to chat. As cluttering as these ads may be, it is relatively easy for
me to ignore these ads. In part because I know where they lead. My concern is for the young
Americans who dont know where they lead. Those who, on occasion, get innocently tied up in
these sort of cluttering advertisements, and later find themselves addicted to pornography and,
more often than youd think, roped up in pedophilia.
As you know, pornography is becoming more and more prevalent (even acceptable) in society.
Luckily, as porns prevalence increases, so does the amount of research and studies that show
the harmful affects of porn. In my personal life I have seen pornography hurt families in ways
that cant be undone, as well as cause individuals to change for the worse. Research shows that
pornography is comparable to tobacco and alcohol, as well as other drugs, in terms of addictive
tendencies. Research also links porn to criminal activity such as pedophilia, abuse, assault,
drug abuse, and domestic violence. In an effort to eradicate all of the addressed issues from our
communities, I urge you to do all that you can in combatting pornography, starting with the
seemingly innocent advertisements like the ones I previously outlined.
In March of this year, you signed SCR 9 and HB 115 , and I commend you for doing so.
Declaring pornography a public health crisis is a crucial first step to raising awareness of the
toxin, and any anit-childporn laws are always a positive. However, I speak for many when I say I
feel there is more to be done. Ive been made aware of certain technologies, which have the
capabilities of monitoring civilians personal devices, such as iPads, phones, and computers.
Perhaps this tech could be tweaked, and instead of monitoring, it could be used for preventing
ads such as those described above, and pornography in general. I think working with both

computer technicians and lawyers alike, such a solution could be reached. Again, I urge you to
do as much as you can to work towards further prevention of pornography.
Thank you for your time,

Brenden Smith