Utah lawmaker attempts to put ‘Word of Wisdom’ in state code

SALT LAKE CITY (KSL) — An unusual situation unfolded in the Utah Legislature Wednesday as a Republican lawmaker attempted to insert scriptural references to the “Word of Wisdom” in state code.

During debate on the House floor over a bill to limit where kratom can be sold in Utah, one Republican lawmaker introduced a substitute version that would add much of the Word of Wisdom into state code.

Kratom derives from a tropical tree but has been nicknamed “gas station heroin” due to extracted versions being available in convenience stores and other shops. Parents of children who have died after using kratom have been pushing the Legislature to restrict its sale.

But while lawmakers debated SB45 on Wednesday, Rep. Matt MacPherson, R-West Valley City, spoke of alcohol and tobacco, which can also be dangerous, and suggested lawmakers “just go all the way and put into effect a health code that’s already been adopted in vast areas of Utah.”

He added the bill would “really just impart the wisdom of the Legislature upon the masses on the streets that just don’t have the same moral clarity we do.”

Though MacPherson didn’t directly invoke the Word of Wisdom — a revelation in the Doctrine and Covenants, a sacred text of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints that advises against consuming alcohol and tobacco — in his floor speech, he introduced a substitute bill titled “Word of Wisdom Amendments.”

That bill lacked typical policy language and instead quoted the entirety of Doctrine and Covenants Section 89, almost word-for-word, though it removed all references to God.

The third verse of Section 89 describes the Word of Wisdom as being: “Given for a principle with promise, adapted to the capacity of the weak and the weakest of all saints, who are or can be called saints.”

Subsection 3 of MacPherson’s bill reads: “Given for a principle with promise, adapted to the capacity of the weak and the weakest of all state residents, who are or can be called state residents.”

The bill goes on to say, “And all state residents who remember to keep and do these sayings, walking in obedience to the commandments, shall receive health in their navel and marrow to their bones.” The bill concludes, again replacing “saints” from the scripture with “state residents.”

It appears to be the only time in recent memory that a lawmaker has proposed inserting scripture into state code.

Rep. Katy Hall, R-Ogden, the floor sponsor of SB45, opposed the change.

“While I really do love the representative … and I appreciate the light-heartedness of this, to me, I’m sorry, this isn’t a light-hearted issue,” she said. “Until you’ve had to see opioid addicts at work and how their addiction affects everything in their lives, including the pain control that they have when they’re going into surgery, including the withdrawals that they have, including having to be on other opioid drugs to stop the pain that’s happening when they’re addicted, I don’t think you understand it.”

In closing, MacPherson said he wasn’t trying to make light of the situation but was bringing up a discussion about why the state would seek to ban kratom purchases when it has simply regulated and taxed other vices like alcohol and tobacco.

“For far more dangerous products that have far greater effects on the totality of the state, why is regulation and tax the appropriate way forward, and why is ‘ban’ the way forward on other products?” he asked.

Lawmakers voted down MacPherson’s change but passed the bill after changing it to bar the sale of any kratom that is not pure leaf. An earlier version of the bill allowed kratom producers to sell processed kratom through March 6, 2027. Representatives voted to make that ban take effect a year earlier, if the bill is signed into law.

But when the bill was sent back to the Senate to consider the House changes, it was read in by the Senate clerk as “Word of Wisdom Amendments.”

Senate Majority Assistant Whip Mike McKell, R-Spanish Fork, later told reporters a typo caused the wrong title of the bill to be read. He said senators corrected that and were considering the accurate version, but called the situation “a little weird.”

“It is a serious issue, and I think when that discussion came off, I actually appreciated Rep. Hall,” said McKell, the original sponsor of the bill. “I think it’s good to have levity up here, and we need to have levity. … I think she brought it back and talked about the seriousness of the bill and the amount of harm that’s happening in public. And I think that’s the message.”

Senators unanimously approved SB45 on Wednesday afternoon.