Several North Country high school students helped make a statement in New York City about smoking in movies.
They were among more than 200 high schoolers demanding that major motion picture studios eliminate smoking and other tobacco imagery from youth-rated movies.
One of those attending last weekend's demonstration was Alaina Mallette, a senior at General Brown.
She's also a member of Reality Check, an anti-smoking movement sponsored by the state Department of Health. Ms. Mallette says Hollywood is paying only lip service to the problem of movie promotion of smoking.
"They say they're doing something to change it but they haven't yet. They're just pretending that they are... you can look in movies, you can look in magazines and you and see it. Smoking is everywhere," she said.
The students dressed up in mat-suits, holding letters spelling out "Stop toxic movies," and "Save 60,000 lives."
They were also joined by New York State Health Commissioner Dr. Richard Daines.
He said that picture studios owned by six major companies have delivered 275 billion "toxic tobacco impressions" to movie viewers over the last 10 years.
"Unlike most major public health threats, there is an easy, low-cost solution to the problem of smoking in movies," Dr. Daines said. "The film industry can immediately reduce youth exposure to smoking imagery by assigning all future movies with smoking depictions an R rating.
