Well obviously the original recipe was made for decades. Without cure. No one died or got sick.
But with the amount of time that the meat spends in the 100 degree smoker taking on the flavor of the wood, it makes sense to use cure to fend off the nasties...
If you're using cure #1 then the lo so ingredients could be replaced with the regular stuff. I think.
Hmm...I think I see another recipe revamp in my future.