LEGISLATIVE RESOLUTION supporting the work of Reality Check and the
smoke free movie initiative

WHEREAS, Tobacco use is the number one preventable cause of death and
disability; and
WHEREAS, Youth ages 12-20 are one-sixth of the population but buy more
than a quarter of all movie tickets; and
WHEREAS, Half the tobacco shots in the 10 top-grossing movies released
from May 2002 to May 2003, were in youth-accessible and youth-marketed
G, PG and PG-13 films; and
WHEREAS, 80 percent of the 10 highest-grossing PG-13 movies and videos
released in 1996-1997, and 1999-2000, featured smoking; and 85 percent
of the 25 top grossing Hollywood films from 1988 to 1997, dramatized the
use of tobacco, the highest rate in half a century; and
WHEREAS, Exposure to smoking in movies recruits more than half (52%)
of new adolescent smokers; and
WHEREAS, Every day 1,070 teens light up their first cigarettes because
of smoking in the movies - and 340 of them will die prematurely as a
result; and
WHEREAS, The tobacco industry has a long, documented history of
encouraging smoking in movies and lying about it; and
WHEREAS, Smoking in television ads for movies, significantly greater
than ads for movies that show a particular tobacco brand, reach the vast
majority of children and adolescents; and
WHEREAS, The World Health Organization, American Medical Association,
American Academy of Pediatrics, American Legacy Foundation, Reality
Check, American Academy of Allergy, Asthma, and Immunology, Society for
Adolescent Medicine, the Los Angeles Department of Health Services, and
the United States Public Interest Research Group and Interfaith Center
for Corporate Responsibility have endorsed the smokefree movies
solution; and
WHEREAS, Twenty-seven state Attorney Generals have written the Motion
Picture Association of America urging Hollywood to play an active role
in reducing the number of children who smoke because of smoking in the
movies; now, therefore, be it
RESOLVED, That any film that shows or implies tobacco should be rated
"R"; the only exceptions should be when the presentation of tobacco
clearly and unambiguously reflects the dangers and consequences of
tobacco use or is necessary to represent smoking of a real historical
figure; and be it further
RESOLVED, That the producers should post a certificate in the credits
at the end of the movie declaring that nobody on the production received
anything of value (cash, money, free cigarettes or other gifts, free
publicity, interest-free loans or anything else) from anyone in exchange
for using or displaying tobacco; and be it further
RESOLVED, That studios and theaters should require a genuinely strong
anti-smoking ad (not one produced by a tobacco company) to run before
any film with any tobacco presence, regardless of its MPAA rating; and
be it further
RESOLVED, That there should be no tobacco brand identification nor the
presence of tobacco brand imagery (such as billboards) in the background
of any movie scene; and be it further
RESOLVED, That this Legislative Body pause in its deliberations to
support the work of Reality Check and the smoke free movie initiative;
and be it further
RESOLVED, That a copy of this Resolution, suitably engrossed, be tran-
smitted to Reality Check.