The number of U.S. movies showing people smoking has
declined since 2005, but cigarettes still feature in far too many films
and could be influencing young people to take up the habit, according to
a report released Thursday.
The report's authors recommended that movie ratings also consider
whether the film depicts smoking and suggested strong advertisements
about the dangers of smoking precede movies that show tobacco use.
"The results of this analysis indicate that the number of tobacco
incidents peaked in 2005, then declined by approximately half through
2009, representing the first time a decline of that duration and
magnitude has been observed," the team at the U.S. Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention, the University of California San Francisco and
elsewhere wrote.
"However, nearly half of popular movies still contained tobacco
imagery in 2009, including 54 percent of those rated PG-13, and the
number of incidents remained higher in 2009 than in 1998," they added in
the CDC's weekly report on death and illness.
Two members of the U.S. House of Representatives, Democrat Edward
Markey and Republican Joseph Pitts, who both serve on the Energy and
Commerce Committee, wrote the Motion Picture Association of America
encouraging the industry to adopt stronger anti-smoking measures.
"Exposure to onscreen smoking in movies increases the probability
that youths will start smoking. Youths who are heavily exposed to
onscreen smoking are approximately two to three times more likely to
begin smoking than youths who are lightly exposed," the CDC report
reads.
The researchers counted each time tobacco use was shown in the
biggest-grossing films of 1991 to 2009.
"This analysis shows that the number of tobacco incidents increased
steadily after the 1998 Master Settlement Agreement between the state
attorneys general and the major cigarette companies, in which the
companies agreed to end brand placement," they wrote.
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They said the Motion Picture Association of America had done little
to make changes but noted some studios had made voluntary changes and
said Viacom was the first company whose movies rated for youth showed no
use of tobacco in 2009.
They suggested more policies could encourage filmmakers to do better.
"Such policies could include having a mature content (R) rating for
movies with smoking, requiring strong antitobacco ads preceding movies
that depict smoking, not allowing tobacco brand displays in movies, and
requiring producers of movies depicting tobacco use to certify that no
person or company associated with the production received any
consideration for that depiction," they wrote.