(Adds movie industry efforts, paragraphs 9-10)
Jump to full article: Reuters, 2008-08-21
Author: Julie Steenhuysen
Intro: Tobacco promotions and depictions of smoking in movies cause teenagers to start smoking, according to a sweeping report on tobacco in the media released on Thursday.
The report by the National Cancer Institute found the tobacco industry spent more than $13 billion on smoking-related advertising and promotion in 2005. These efforts boosted overall tobacco use, contradicting industry claims that they are intended to build brand loyalty.
"This is the first government report to present definitive conclusions that, number one, tobacco advertising and promotion are causally related to increased tobacco use in the population," said Dr. Ronald Davis, senior scientific editor of the report and past president of the American Medical Association.
"And, number two, (it shows) that depictions of smoking in movies is causally related to youth smoking initiation," Davis told a news conference.
The report, which examined more than 1,000 scientific studies on how the media influences tobacco use, comes at a time when efforts to keep young Americans from picking up cigarettes have stalled. ...
Dr. Janet Collins, who directs chronic disease prevention and health promotion at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, endorsed the report's findings.
"The report speaks clearly to what amounts to an assault on the nation's health," Collins said.
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