Volconvo Debate Forums - View Single Post - Should movies with smoking get an NC-17 rating?

Aug 10, 2007, 01:48 pm

Tobacco companies, for decades, have colluded with Hollywood to have smoking portrayed favorably in movies. The tobacco companies do this because it helps sell cigarettes, and, more importantly gets young people to start.

"Smoking in movies is the most powerful pro-tobacco influence on kids today, accounting for 52% of adolescents who start smoking, an effect even stronger than cigarette advertising." [Source]

Given that watching tobacco use in movies is so harmful to young people, should movies that depict smoking be given an NC-17 rating?

For more information on this issue, see Smoke Free Movies, a project of "Stanton A. Glantz, PhD, professor of medicine at the University of California, San Francisco. Professor Glantz is co-author of The Cigarette Papers and Tobacco War and director of the UCSF Center for Tobacco Control Research and Education. This project is supported by grants from the American Legacy Foundation, the Arimathea Fund of the Tides Foundation, and other donors. Earlier support came from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Richard and Rhoda Goldman Fund."

Regards
S.

Aug 10, 2007, 01:48 pm	#1 (permalink) (top)
sdbest Guest Posts: n/a	Should movies with smoking get an NC-17 rating? Tobacco companies, for decades, have colluded with Hollywood to have smoking portrayed favorably in movies. The tobacco companies do this because it helps sell cigarettes, and, more importantly gets young people to start. "Smoking in movies is the most powerful pro-tobacco influence on kids today, accounting for 52% of adolescents who start smoking, an effect even stronger than cigarette advertising." [Source] Given that watching tobacco use in movies is so harmful to young people, should movies that depict smoking be given an NC-17 rating? For more information on this issue, see Smoke Free Movies, a project of "Stanton A. Glantz, PhD, professor of medicine at the University of California, San Francisco. Professor Glantz is co-author of The Cigarette Papers and Tobacco War and director of the UCSF Center for Tobacco Control Research and Education. This project is supported by grants from the American Legacy Foundation, the Arimathea Fund of the Tides Foundation, and other donors. Earlier support came from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Richard and Rhoda Goldman Fund." Regards S.