SMOKING UP IN FILMS ALARMINGLY STUDY: KIDS BEING INFLUENCED.Byline: Brent Hopkins Staff Writer Smoking in films has risen to a level not seen since 1950, according to according to prep. 1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians. 2. In keeping with: according to instructions. 3. a study released Monday, reportedly leading nearly 400,000 adolescents to light up each year. Published in the journal Pediatrics and compiled from 40 individual studies, the report found that smoking or tobacco-related activities popped up 10.9 times per hour on film in 2002, the most recent year cited. That's slightly above 1950, the last high point, and more than double the number in 1982, the lowest point. The study also found that youth-rated films, PG-13 and below, now have more tobacco impressions than R-rated movies. Stanton Glantz, a professor of medicine at the University of California, San Francisco , who co-authored the report, said the findings lead credence to his quest for Verb 1. quest for - go in search of or hunt for; "pursue a hobby" quest after, go after, pursue look for, search, seek - try to locate or discover, or try to establish the existence of; "The police are searching for clues"; "They are searching for the a mandatory R rating for all films that feature smoking. ``We've estimated 390,000 kids start to smoke every year because of the movies,'' said Glantz, a longtime tobacco control activist. ``An R rating would cut that in half, so if we stay with the status quo [Latin, The existing state of things at any given date.] Status quo ante bellum means the state of things before the war. The status quo to be preserved by a preliminary injunction is the last actual, peaceable, uncontested status which preceded the pending controversy. , a couple hundred thousand kids will be delivered into the hands of the tobacco companies.'' Glantz also wants any movie with smoking to have a mandatory public service announcement about the dangers of tobacco use played beforehand, no tobacco brand identification and a certification that film studios receive no compensation for the on-screen on·screen or on-screen adj. & adv. 1. As shown on a movie, television, or display screen. 2. Within public view; in public. depiction of tobacco. The study comes several weeks after 32 attorneys general sent letters to Paramount Pictures, Fox Filmed Entertainment, Warner Bros BROS Brothers BROS Benefits and Retirement Operations Section (King County, Washington) BROS Barnes and Richmond Operatic Society (London, UK) ., The Walt Disney Co. and five other studios requesting that they include anti-smoking messages in their DVD DVD: see digital versatile disc. DVD in full digital video disc or digital versatile disc Type of optical disc. The DVD represents the second generation of compact-disc (CD) technology. and home video. ``We all are in agreement that smoking is a serious health problem,'' said Kory Bernards, vice president for the Motion Picture Association of America. ``Our industry shouldn't be glamorizing it.'' She said that parents should rely on PG-13 and R ratings as guidelines for what's appropriate for children to see. Smoking by adults would not be reflected in the current ratings system, she said, nor is a mandatory R rating like Glantz seeks being considered. Brent Hopkins, (818) 713-3738 brent.hopkins(at)dailynews.com |
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