Smoke-Free Movies
Smoking in the movies is responsible for up to 50% percent of teens who start smoking!The rate of smoking in movies is now back at 1950 levels.  This year, 80% of Oscar nominated films featured smoking.

Youth rated films often contain smoking because seeing actors smoke is the best way to get kids to smoke and youth audiences are the tobacco industry’s most valuable clientele.  The tobacco industry knows "Film is better than any commercial that has been run on television or in any magazine, because the audience is totally unaware of any sponsor involvement."

The National Cancer Institute’s Monograph 19 provides a critical, scientific review and synthesis of the current evidence regarding the power of the media, both to encourage and to discourage tobacco use.

http://cancercontrol.cancer.gov/tcrb/monographs/19/index.html

Organizations across the country and world have sent resolutions to the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) to consider smoking as a factor in the rating of G, PG, and PG-13 films. The MPAA agreed to uphold this standard in May 2007, but only two nationally distributed films have been labeled for tobacco so far!  More has to be done to make this a reality.

The Smoke-Free Marin coalition has received resolutions on Smoke-free Movies from the Marin County Board of Supervisors, City of Fairfax, and City of Novato.

If your community group would like to support a smoke-free movie resolution, you can download the resolution and send your signed version to the Smoke-Free Marin Coalition staff . All resolutions will be sent to the MPAA.

Learn more about smoking in movies:

1. "120,000 Lives A Year" Movie on YouTube

2. CBS News- Smoking in Movies Clip
Watch Katie Couric’s recent report on the issue.

3. Smoke-Free Movies
Learn which current movies contain smoking.
This website lists G, PG, and PG-13 movies that have smoking in them. It also cites research on the dangers of smoking in movies. For an easy to read summary of the science, click here.

4. Reality Check
Reality Check focuses on combating tobacco industry advertising, sponsorship, and promotion. Facts, trivia, and other information on smoking in movies are included, as well as how to send letters to Hollywood actors and movie studios regarding smoking in movies.