Porn a ''public health crisis'': Utah Governor

"Pornography perpetuates a sexually toxic environment," the resolution states.

New York: Utah Governor Gary Herbert on Tuesday signed a resolution that declares pornography a "public health crisis".

The resolution calls for increased "education, prevention, research, and policy change at the community and societal level" to combat pornography, which "perpetuates a sexually toxic environment”.

He signed two measures aimed at pornography this week that actually does not ban pornography but affirm that Utah recognises the need for education and prevention against porn because it is "leading to a broad spectrum of individual and public health impacts and societal harms", nydailynews.com reported on Thursday.

The resolution cited "detrimental effects" on porn watchers including biological addiction, changes in brain development, emotional illnesses and difficulty maintaining relationships, the report added.

The resolution was sponsored by Senator Todd Weiler, who said that pornography is so toxic that it increases demand for sexually-explicit images of children, ruins youth`s self-esteem and is just as addictive as methamphetamine -- popularly known as Meth drug.

The resolution noted that pornography is creating a sexually toxic environment, helping in hypersexualisation of teens, low self-esteem, normalised violence toward women and is responsible for increased demand for sex trafficking and prostitution.

"I believe pornography will follow the trend of the tobacco industry in public perception," Dawn Hawkins, executive director of the National Centre on Sexual Exploitation, was quoted as saying.

Meanwhile, the report said that a study by Harvard Business School professor in 2009 found that the Utah topped the list of buyers of adult films.

(With IANS inputs)