This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2016, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

The promotion of bad science benefits no one. The state of Utah and the Deseret News are actively defending bad science concerning the Zion Curtain.

On Nov. 20, the Deseret News justified Utah's draconian alcohol laws, including the Zion Curtain, in part, by noting the decrease in underage drinking in Utah. This trend is unremarkable. There is a nationwide decrease in underage drinking, including states with the most liberal alcohol laws. Factoring in 60 percent of Utahns as teetotalers, there is even less reason to praise the Zion Curtain and the pseudoscience used to justify it.

Unfortunately, what is trending in Utah are civic and religious leaders using outdated science to direct social and medical policies. The rate of opioid overdose deaths in Utah is staggering, and there are safer alternatives and treatments. Medicinal use of marijuana is reducing the rate of opioid deaths in states like Colorado. The science behind medical marijuana is not fully developed, but there is more reliable science justifying the use of medical marijuana, even the legalization of recreational marijuana, than there is reliable science for the Zion Curtain and Utah alcohol laws.

If Utah lawmakers can justify the Zion Curtain, they should be able to justify legalization of marijuana.

Bryceson Ringwood

Salt Lake City