The overall evidence of tobacco restrictons
There are a number of levels of intervention whereby smoking in the movies can be restricted. The overall evidence suggests that voluntary and self-regulatory measures have not been successful. Advocacy approaches to obtain stronger labelling requirements (adult ratings) for movies showing smoking imagery as well as anti-smoking messages and assurances that no payoffs are received from the tobacco industry have received wide support recently in both the United States and India. It is clear that restrictions of smoking imagery in movies with wide global distribution will serve a larger, multinational public good. Thus national approaches, and even local approaches, can have wide-ranging positive global effects. Multinational cooperation will also be critical in restricting the global reach of movie-based tobacco imagery.
Although the causal relationship between smoking imagery in the movies and smoking initiation has now been established, additional research on the impact of intervention policies would be desirable. For example, research questions at national levels may include:
• How is the local film market regulated, including ratings, distribution rights and censorship?
• What are the economic arrangements between distributors, sponsors, advertisers and producers for national or imported movies?
• What mix of national (local) and internationally distributed films are shown in theatres? Distributed on video? Arriving via satellite?
• What is the tobacco imagery content in national movies?
• What methods could be effectively used to measure national adolescent exposure to tobacco imagery?
• What is the exposure of a specific national adolescent population to tobacco imagery?
• How do movies impact smoking initiation among young people in specific national contexts?
