During the awards season, the spotlight is in movies and shows that have attracted millions of attention, with all eyes on screen to see who will be on top. This may seem like an innocent fun, but in reality, these popular films expose millions of young people to cigarettes on screen.
Smoking is the number one preventable cause of deaths in the United States, killing more than 7 million people worldwide each year. To prevent smoking in death and illness, CNY, which does not contain cigarettes, is focused on reducing the number of new smokers, especially among young people. However, the film industry continues to expose young people to cigarette images, and research finds that young people watching cigarettes on screens are up to three times more likely to start vaping nicotine and twice as likely to use cigarettes. The CDC suggests that on-screen smoking could kill around 2 million children and teens living today. Despite these proven harms, youth rating movies still allow cigarette images, and there is no standard rating for smoking in movies.
Using cigarette images to give a “R” rating to a film could reduce the smoking rate among young people by about 18%. This saves the lives of millions of young people and prevents countless people from suffering from the illness caused by smoking. By working to have a more accurate assessment and parental warning, including cigarettes, parents can avoid exposing their children to cigarette use.
For more information about smoking in the film, check out our Truth Initiative report here.
Find out more about cigarette harm at our website https://tobaccofreecny.org/
Images by Victoria of Pixa Bay
