Editorial: What’s Smoking Got to Do with It? by Pauline

Does anyone want to watch something that kills millions of people every year? That something is tobacco. There should be smoke-free movies because movies influence so many people, even if they may not know it. Center for Disease Control and Prevention states that "smoking kills more than five million people per year and is eventually going to raise to eight million deaths annually by 2030". I can only imagine my child dying from trying tobacco after watching a movie with smoking scenes.

Movies that include smoking, alcohol, or drugs need to be rated R. Thousands of kids light up their first cigarette because of a movie perceiving smoking as "being cool" or "relieving stress". Because half the smoking in movies that kids see is in youth-rated (G/PG/PG-13) movies, smoking in youth-rated films accounts for about 200,000 kids a year starting to smoke, 60,000 of whom will die as a result. That’s nearly one-third of thousands of kids who die prematurely from smoking so, smoking is not a joke. 

Tobacco companies would be outraged if branding was banned, and of course rating all tobacco-related movies to be rated R would mean box office death, but I think that for the lives of millions it is worth the trade. I personally had a father that smoked two packs a day; I hated the smell even though I had to live with it. From the coughs and hacks by my father, it was clear to me that tobacco was not a healthy hobby. Though he is not in my life anymore, I could possibly be in one of the annual deaths counted. Tobacco companies are actually paying off filmmakers to include their brands to make more sales. Though it is illegal to do so, it is still happening.  Films also make tobacco look and seem like it is "okay" to use when it really isn’t okay. Rating movies R, creating warning ads, and removing brands can only make the world a better place for everyone to live.