Social Initiative Proposes 'R' Rating for Smoking in Movies

Bottom line: Smoking kills.

Another bottom line: Movies influence behavior.

Smoking in movies encourages smoking which leads to people dying. That’s why Smoke Free Movies has proposed that movies showing smoking should receive an ‘R’ rating from the MPAA (Motion Picture Association of America) – the same rating that already applies to movies showing extensive violence and death.

Smoke Free Movies is a project started at the University of California/San Francisco. Its idea is backed by a consortium of NGOs, including the American Heart Association, the American Lung Association, and the American Medical Association. Recently, an advertisement advocating for the new ‘R’ rating criteria ran in the New York Times.