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Movies don’t deserve money if they promote smoking

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VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) – As debate continues in this province over increased tax credits for the movie industry, one local group says the industry doesn’t deserve government subsidies.

The people behind “Smoke Free Movies” claim popular films get more young people to take up smoking.

“For every dollar that we give to an American film studio, producing a film in this country that has smoking that children are going to see, we have to turn around and absorb a $1.76 health bill,” says the group’s Pamela McColl.

McColl says there’s just as much smoking in movies today as there was 50 years ago.

“James Bond, absolutely. The new Skyfall movie was the worst movie in 2012. Rango was a movie full of smoking that children saw. Julie and Julia about Julia Childs is another example.”

She cites a study which says 44 per cent of young people get hooked on tobacco through popular films.

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