Smoking and Tobacco Use in Top Ranking Movies Significantly Reduced

Between 2005 and 2010 the total number of onscreen tobacco incidents decreased 71.6 percent! In 2010 the average number of incidents of tobacco use per youth-rated movie was 6.8, compared to 20.1 in 2005. This  drop is especially exciting because, according to a 2010 meta-analysis of four studies, 44 percent of youth smoking initiation is attributed to viewing tobacco incidents in movies. By exposing our youth to fewer tobacco incidents in movies, we can reduce the number of kids who become lifetime customers of Big Tobacco - currently 4,000 kids in US try smoking for the first time every single day!

So making sure that tobacco use doesn't look cool in kids' favorite movies is important. Between 2004 and 2007, three of the six major motion picture companies adopted policies which provide review of scripts, story boards, daily footage, rough cuts and the final edited film by a manager to monitor tobacco incidents. While tobacco imagery is not banned completely within these policies, these three companies have eliminated tobacco depictions almost entirely in their G, PG and PG-13 rated movies.

Despite this great news, there's still work to be done to get tobacco out of movies our kids see. The World Health Organization and many other public health groups and health professionals recommend that tobacco use in movies automatically set the rating to R unless the movie portrays a historical character who smoked or shows the real, negative effects of tobacco use. Other recommendations include showing ads that warn viewers of the dangers of tobacco use before movies that depict smoking or use of other tobacco products, and "certifying no payments for depicting tobacco use and ending depiction of tobacco brands," according to MMWR report.

But the reduction we're seeing now is certainly a great step and certainly worth celebrating... perhaps with a trip to the theater?

WHO: World no tobacco day focuses on women

World No Tobacco Day is today, May 31st. This year is focusing on women. The goal is to draw attention to the fact that women are unfairly targeted and marketed to by the tobacco industry. In some countries women are the primary focus of advertising as the racketeers at Big Tobacco want to see more women smoking. While the world has nearly 1 billion smokers, only 20% of them are women. No one knows this more than the industry. The shift towards specifically marketing products to women and girls is all for the sake of profits!

The tobacco industry capitalizes of women's sense of independence and financial vitality. Especially in nations where the new sense of independence has been found, the tobacco industry is trying to tie that freedom to smoking and tobacco use.

The hope for World No Tobacco Day  is to also encourage the passed of the Framework Convention of Tobacco Control (FCTC). This document FCTC is  the first WHO treaty of its kind. It was negotiated to prevent and control tobacco use all across the globe. The US has failed to act on this treaty.

Here is what we can do in Wisconsin to protect women and girls from the dangerous marketing of tobacco:

Call on our policy-makers!

Ask them to:

• Implement a comprehensive ban on all forms of tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship, as called for in the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control.
• Implement a comprehensive ban on tobacco smoke in all public places and workplaces, likewise called for in the WHO Framework Convention.
• Heed the call in the preamble of the WHO Framework Convention for "gender-specific tobacco control strategies" and the "full participation of women at all levels of [tobacco control] policy-making and implementation [of tobacco control measures]".
• Request assistance from WHO to implement the demand-reduction provisions of the WHO Framework Convention through the MPOWER package of tobacco control measures.
• Ensure that government agencies and other stakeholders work together to take into account the different needs of men and women.
• Ensure that tobacco control strategies take into account the special problems of women who chew tobacco.

World Cancer Day

Today SmokeFree Wisconsin joins many others in observing World Cancer Day. This year's message is that cancer can be prevented. No one thinks more about prevention then SmokeFree Wisconsin. The important ways that you can prevent cancer are:

• avoid tobacco use and exposure to secondhand smoke
• maintain a healthy diet and get your body moving
• limit alcohol use
• protect yourself against cancer causing infections (Click here to read more on HPV)

Share with loved ones the importance of preventing cancer and the daily practice of living a healthy lifestyle free of cancer. 

World Health Orgainzation Announcement

Today, December 7, 2009 the World Health Organization (WHO) announced that it will be expanding its tobacco control efforts on the continent of Africa. This is an important step forward for tobacco control for a few reasons. First, according to the WHO projections, "Unchecked [tobacco use], it will kill more than 8 million people per year by 2030, with more than 80 percent of those deaths occurring in developing countries. Although tobacco use is less prevalent in Africa than in other regions of the world, that will change unless we act," said Ala Alwan. 


African Nations appear to be at a critical junction between future increased tobacco use and the health problems associated with it and comprehensive health policies preventing the devastating toll of tobacco. Ala Alwan also said, "Tobacco breeds poverty, killing people in their most productive years. It consumes family and health-care budgets -- money spent on tobacco products is money not spent on such essentials as education, food, and medicine." 


While he might discussing the issues related to smoking on the continent, he might as well be talking about what we have seen in the United States and Wisconsin as well. Wisconsin has certainly seen its ups and downs in tobacco control, we are also at a critical juncture with our work in tobacco. Will we continue to allow Big Tobacco to interfere with public health policy? Will we work to end the candy flavored tobacco products? What other steps must we take to reduce our annual burden of tobacco? 


It is important to note that while some African countries have  implemented smoke-free air policies, many countries have not. With tobacco use on the rise and high rates of exposure to secondhand smoke, the WHO initiative is important for the health of all people on the continent. WHO is planning on opening a regional office and is receiving funding from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.