He takes issue with a letter from Jason Chandler, printed June 24, which expressed concern about the 46 percent increase in suicides since 1999. Burton then goes on to say Chandler “forgot to factor in the increase in Utah population — 43 percent since 1999, resulting in a trivial change in the number of suicides.”
First of all, Mr. Burton, if you had bothered to check the data, you would’ve found the increase to have been 15.8 per 100,000 in 1999 to 24.2 per 100,000 in 2016 (from the Utah Department of Health).