The winning art was selected from almost 250 pieces of youth artwork from a citywide anti-tobacco art contest, which was exhibited earlier in the summer at the Addison Street Art Windows in Berkeley. Like health professionals around the world, the City's Public Health Department is concerned about the impact of tobacco glamorization on youth. Smoking in films is on the increase. In a recent review of films produced from the 1990's, UCSF Professor, Stan Glantz, recently found that nearly 80 per cent of male stars in films smoke even though only 25 per cent of American adult males smoke. Studies from UC Irvine indicate that showing youth anti-tobacco messages before films reduces the positive impact on teens of the glamorization of tobacco in films.
Tobacco use kills more people everyday in the U.S. than three jumbo jet crashes.
More people die each day from tobacco related disease in the US than from AIDS, auto-accidents, alcohol and drugs, homicides and suicides and fires combined. Each day 300 youth light up for the first time in California. About one third of them will die from tobacco related diseases. All six films showed tobacco use, although in two of the films tobacco use was minimal. However, only 54 per cent of viewers reported seeing smoking somewhere in the film they watched.