Study indicates that genetics may be reason some people can't quit smoking.
WASHINGTON -- A comprehensive report released today from the National Cancer Institute - the leading federal agency on cancer research - provides the government's strongest conclusion to date on the media's powerful and causal effect on tobacco use.
The report, Monograph 19 - The Role of the Media in Promoting and Reducing Tobacco Use, concluded what we in public health have known for many years: depictions of smoking in movies and tobacco marketing promote youth smoking.These facts are nonetheless illuminating because they are now recognized for the first time as fact by our federal government.
The report provides the ammunition to tobacco control advocates around the world who are fighting to keep movies smoke-free. While the entertainment industry has taken positive steps to respond to the growing international Smoke-Free Movies movement, there is still some skepticism on the part of many influencers in the entertainment industry as to the magnitude of the effect movie smoking has on youth smoking initiation.
The fact that the federal government in this report is pointing out a causal link should provide impetus for decision-makers to take the bold step to remove smoking from youth-rated films, once and for all.
The report also lends further credibility to existing media campaigns that have been proven to curb youth smoking, such as the foundation's award-winning truth(R) campaign. In its first two years, truth(R) was credited with 22 percent of the decline in youth smoking, but the annual budget for truth(R) is less than the $36 million our competitors in the tobacco industry spend in just 24 hours to market their deadly products to consumers in the U.S.
Obviously, in a rapidly changing digital landscape, understanding the role of media in reducing or promoting tobacco use is critically important as we continue working to fight the tobacco epidemic. With limited resources, the truth(R) campaign is reaching teens from big cities to rural towns in ways we didn't imagine 10 years ago.
Youth get a dose of truth(R) on social networking sites like MySpace and Facebook, on the road at popular teen concerts throughout the summer and through ads on television and in theaters prior to movies.
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