August 26, 2011 - Governments in the U.K., U.S., and Canada are undermining tobacco prevention campaigns by subsidizing top-grossing US films that contain smoking, according to a study published in the journal PloS Medicine. The authors argue that films with tobacco imagery should be ineligible for public funding to ensure that film subsidy programs do not conflict with public health goals. Earlier research shows that young people who are heavily exposed to tobacco imagery in films are about three times more likely to begin smoking as lightly exposed youths. This evidence led the World Health Organization to recommend in 2009 that future films with scenes of smoking be given an adult content rating and an economic incentive for producers should be created to leave smoking out. However, this recommendation has been largely ignored in the U.K., U.S., and Canada.

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