Op-ed: LDS Church should treat prescription drug abuse like alcohol

Currently, in the state of Utah, there is a debate as to whether "Zion Curtains" in restaurants should be removed. According to a recent poll from Utahpolicy.com, 62 percent of Utahns want them removed. So why are they still there? And more importantly, since data suggests that more Utahns want them gone than have them stay, why is this still even a debate? Because the Zion Curtains represent more than just a wall protecting children from the evils of alcohol. It is a representation of larger, more personal issue that the state of Utah has yet to come to terms with.

Currently in Utah an average of 23 Utahns die per month of prescription drug overdoses. Since 2000, the number of overdoses in the state have risen over 400 percent. In fact, the problem has become so prevalent that the CDC recently awarded the state of Utah $1 million to fight prescription drug abuse. But what does this have to do with the Zion Curtain issue? It is a "moral fight."

Alcohol is prohibited in the LDS faith as part of the Word of Wisdom. It was determined that things which were detrimental to physical and spiritual health (coffee, tea, tobacco, alcohol and illegal drugs) were not to be used by church members. And, unfortunately, there's the rub. Prescription medications are legal, and they are seen by many as being separate from illegal ones. Since the LDS Church has yet to have any divine proclamations being given to its members, this fight of illegal versus illegal, and also alcohol abuse versus prescription abuse, has become a game of mental chess. This is why the Zion Curtains have yet to come down.

As long as there is a gray area of what is and isn't tolerated with pain medication, then there will always be a mental disconnect as to what is and isn't tolerated in addictive behaviors. As long as alcohol is discouraged, there will always be new laws and new ways for lawmakers to ensure that the scourge of alcoholism is at bay. There will always be an idea that preventing alcohol from penetrating the lives of the young is a top priority. And as long as the church refuses to make a divine mandate about prescription drug abuse, then the trend we have seen rise over the last 14 years will continue.

What is not so surprising about this Zion Curtain debate is, indeed, the stance of the Mormon church. It is no secret that the LDS Church wants the Zion Curtains to remain. In fact, in 2014 when Rep. Kraig Powell, R-Heber City, sponsored legislation to have them removed, there was strong opposition from the church. Former Sen. John Valentine, R-Orem, said, "Candidly, the capstone was when the LDS Church came out in very strong support of the Senate's position ..."

Although the LDS Church has made it abundantly aware that it will take a strong stance on alcohol being a part of the everyday lives of not only its members but non-members alike, I implore the church to say something, to do something about the problem with prescription drug abuse. I know that it is central to the faith that God loves his children and someday wants them to return to him, but not on a stretcher in the back of an ambulance, dead, with a stomach full of opioids.

R.G.B. Robb is a writer and a resident of Utah for 33 years.