The U.S. film industry can take four simple steps to substantially reduce the impact of adolescent exposure to smoking on screen. None of these steps requires government action. None restricts creative choices. All are voluntary and transparent. All are based on the published research. Together, they will avert tobacco addiction, disease and death on a massive scale.

1. Rate new smoking movies "R".
Any film that shows or implies tobacco should be rated "R." The only exceptions should be when the presentation of tobacco clearly and unambiguously reflects the dangers and consequences of tobacco use or is necessary to represent the smoking of a real historical figure.

Where we are now: As of 2006, 70% of adults supported R rating smoking movies, a 10% increase over earlier years. The studios continue to stonewall, exposing kids to billions of images of smoking in youth-rated films. Their political arm, the MPAA, announced that it would "consider" smoking in assigning ratings, but has yet to rate a single smoking movie "R," regardless of how smokey it is.

2. Certify no pay-offs.
The producers should post a certificate in the closing credits declaring that nobody on the production received anything of value (cash money, free cigarettes or other gifts, free publicity, interest-free loans or anything else) from anyone in exchange for using or displaying tobacco.

Where we are now: In January 2008, Time Warner began including the following language in the end credits of all domestically distributed DVDs that contain tobacco products or imagery: “No person or entity associated with this film received payment or anything of value, or entered into any agreement, in connection with the depiction of tobacco products.” Starting in fall 2008, they will be adding the certification to theatrical releases.

GE Universal indicates while of their movies include smoking in fine print in their advertising and also added the weaker statement, "The depictions of tobacco smoking contained in this film are based solely on artistic consideration and are not intended to promote tobacco consumption. The Surgeon General has determined that there are serious health risks associated with smoking and with secondhand smoke" at the end of the credits for films that include smoking.

3. Require strong anti-smoking ads.
Studios and theaters should run a proven-effective anti-smoking ad (not produced by a tobacco company) to run before any film with any tobacco presence, in any distribution channel, regardless of its MPAA rating.

Where we are now: As of 2006, two-thirds of adults supported this recommendation. The Weinstein Brothers and the six major studios are including effective anti-smoking spots from the American Legacy Foundation or State of California on DVDs, but not yet in theaters. Most are only including them on youth-rated films, despite the fact that kids see smoking in R-rated films, too. (Time Warner includes the spots on DVDs of R-rated films.)

4. Stop identifying tobacco brands.
There should be no tobacco brand identification nor the presence of tobacco brand imagery (such as billboards) in the background of any movie scene.

Where we are now: There is less brand identification now than there was a few years ago.

Strong public support for meaningful change is why the studios have stated to move. As of February, 2007, eighty-one percent of adults in the United States agreed adolescents are more likely to smoke if they watch actors smoke in movies, and 70 percent support a new R-rating for any movies with on-screen tobacco imagery, unless the film clearly demonstrates the dangers of smoking.

The Social Climate Survey of Tobacco Control is an annual poll of public attitudes about tobacco control policies. According to the report (PDF):

• Support for an ‘R’-rating for movies with tobacco that fail to portray its health risks jumped nearly 12 percentage points between 2005 and 2006.
• Two-thirds of adults want movie theaters to show anti-tobacco spots before any film with tobacco images, up more than five percentage points from the year before.
• More than 60 percent of adults want tobacco branding out of all movie scenes, a rise of nearly seven percentage points from the previous year. 

The four Smoke Free Movies policies are endorsed by:

• World Health Organization
• American Lung Association
• American Medical Association
• American Medical Association Alliance
• American Academy of Pediatrics
• American Legacy Foundation
• American Heart Association
• American Public Health Association
• American Academy of Allergy, Asthma, and Immunology
• Americans for Nonsmokers Rights
• California School Nurses Association
• Center for Tobacco Free Kids
• Society for Adolescent Medicine
• Los Angeles Department of Health Services
• National Network on Tobacco Prevention and Poverty (on behalf of Association of Gospel Rescue Missions, National Coalition for the Homeless, National Commission on Correctional Health Care, Rural Alaska Community Action Program, The Salvation Army, West Virgina University, Prevention Research Center, West Virgina Bureau for Public Health)
• New York State Department of Health
• New York State PTA
• Oklahoma State PTA
• US Public Interest Research Group, and others.