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Letter to the Editor: Tobacco use and Mormons

By MIKE SAWYER Birmingham
Ala.

Editor,
As a young mayor in Alabama back in 1987, I attempted to enforce an 1896 state law that prohibited the sale of tobacco to minors. The only supporting religious letter I got wasn’t from a local Southern Baptist member, but from a dear Mormon Church couple that lived a 100 miles away.
While continuing to promote health, I firmly believe that our bureaucrats, politicians, and nonprofit health professionals will never equal what the Mormon Church of Utah has done by protecting their members from the “dead end” destiny of Tobacco Road.
An Internet search with “Utah and tobacco” yields the most “tobacco-less” state.
A Mormon president may be stronger medicine than previous non-Mormon presidents to reduce the painful 450,000 tobacco caused American deaths per year.
I’ve never entered the door of a Mormon church with my Master of Divinity degree.

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