Share this [6]
Philip Morris [7] and the tobacco industry [8] in general have long insisted [7] that cigarette advertising has no influence whatsoever in getting people to start smoking, claiming it only influences existing adult smokers to change brands. But this week the National Cancer Institute [9] published an extensive, 684-page monograph [10] that evaluates current evidence regarding the power of the media to both encourage and discourage tobacco use. NCI found [11] that "The total weight of evidence -- from multiple studies, conducted by investigators from different disciplines, and using data from many countries -- demonstrates a causal relationship between tobacco advertising and promotion and increased tobacco use." NCI further concluded that smoking in the movies [12] causes more children to start smoking [13], saying "the depiction of cigarette smoking in movies is pervasive" and "the total weight of evidence ... indicates a causal relationship between exposure to depictions of smoking in movies and youth initiation."
Links:
[1] http://dev.prwatch.org/users/5684/anne-landman
[2] http://dev.prwatch.org/topics/arts-culture
[3] http://dev.prwatch.org/topics/children
[4] http://dev.prwatch.org/topics/marketing
[5] http://dev.prwatch.org/topics/tobacco
[6] http://www.addtoany.com/share_save?linkurl=http%3A%2F%2Fdev.prwatch.org%2Fspin%2F2008%2F08%2F7689%2Fnci-tobacco-advertising-smoking-movies-contribute-smoking-rates&linkname=NCI%3A%20Tobacco%20Advertising%2C%20Smoking%20in%20Movies%20Contribute%20to%20Smoking%20Rates
[7] http://legacy.library.ucsf.edu/tid/nqo52f00
[8] http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/tobacco_industry
[9] http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/National_Cancer_Institute
[10] http://www.cancercontrol.cancer.gov/tcrb/monographs/19/index.html
[11] http://www.cancercontrol.cancer.gov/tcrb/monographs/19/docs/M19MajorConclusionsFactSheet.pdf
[12] http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/smoking_in_the_movies
[13] http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Tobacco_industry_marketing_aimed_at_youth