News | Opinion
2017
India: Films that show drinking to be certified as 'A'
Rakesh Mehar | The News Minute (26 Jul 2017)
Since Pahlaj Nihalani took over as chief of [India's] Central Board for Film Certification (CBFC), it seems that not a week goes by without the board creating some new controversy. The latest controversial proposal from the CBFC is to certify a film as 'Adult' if it has characters lighting up a cigarette or drinking on screen.
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Princess Leia ultimately killed by the real Darth Vader
Stuart Kreisman | Vancouver (BC) Sun (3 Jan 2017)
The U.S. Surgeon General has concluded that...simple movie ratings changes could reduce the number of teen smokers by nearly one in five (18 per cent), and prevent one million deaths from smoking among U.S. children alive today. In Canada, the ratings systems are even worse, with 86 per cent of movies featuring tobacco use being youth-rated
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2016
Guest op-ed: A smoke-free scene
Brooklyn borough president Eric Adams | Brooklyn Reporter (17 Nov 2016)
The solution is an “R” rating for all movies that contain tobacco imagery. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says that giving an “R” rating to future movies with tobacco would be expected to reduce the number of teen smokers by nearly one in five and prevent one million deaths from smoking among children alive today.
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In the fight against tobacco, advocates shouldn't send free speech up in smoke
Alyssa Rosenberg | The Washington Post (11 May 2016)
The debate about smoking and the movies raises important questions about the history of government regulation of the movies, the ability of an industry to regulate itself, and the best ways to advocate for changes to what we see on our movie screens.
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Why should Hollywood quit smoking?
Robbie Collin | The Telegraph (1 Apr 2016)
California's anti-smoking lobby wants Hollywood to give up cigarettes. But what's so wrong with stars who light up the screen?
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Why does Hollywood glorify smoking...?
Rush Limbaugh | The Rush Limbaugh Show (6 Jan 2016)
Now, you would think that if Hollywood was really serious about it, a bunch of liberals interested in public health, that they would not make any movies with anybody smoking. So what's up?
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2015
We've come a long way, but not far enough
David Bly | Times Colonist (British Columbia) (12 Sep 2015)
Smoking portrayed on movie screens had considerable influence in persuading people to smoke. The message was overt and powerful — cool, sophisticated, tough, savvy people smoked.
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'Mad Men' got the smoking issue right after all
Robin Koval | CNN (19 May 2015)
Suddenly the fictional world of 'Mad Men' collided with the facts about women's lung and heart health and the array of deadly illnesses linked to women smoking.
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Disney takes on matter of life and death
Robin Koval | Partnership for Drug-Free Kids (15 Apr 2015)
Disney isn’t alone in creating the stories and images young people watch. We need the other major studios to follow Disney’s example.
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2014
No Smoking Allowed! John Constantine will need a nicotine patch In 'Constantine'
Josh Wilding | Comicbookmovie.com (29 Jun 2014)
At the end of day, no smoking [in an upcoming NBC series] doesn't seem like that big a deal.
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