London, ON – The Rainbow Bridge, spanning the Niagara River and linking Canada with the United States, will provide the backdrop for a cross-border event tomorrow calling for an end to smoking in youth-rated movies. Dozens of youth from Southwestern Ontario, including 13 from London and Middlesex County, will join more than 100 teens from across the province and 40 from New York State to symbolically reach across the border on the eve of the Academy Awards.
Organized by the Ontario Coalition for Smoke-Free Movies and New York’s Reality Check youth advocacy group, the event is part of International Week of Action on Smoking in Movies. Held each year in the week leading up to the Oscars, International Week of Action on Smoking in Movies is when youth and parent groups, health organizations and consumer groups worldwide work to have depictions of smoking and tobacco use taken out of films aimed at a youth or teen audience.
Niagara Falls will also be illuminated in teal this evening. The colour is used widely as part of the campaign to promote Smoke-Free Movies, which is a current and important public health issue.
What: Cross-border event and photo opportunity. Youth from Ontario and New York State, showing their support for smoke-free youth-rated movies in an effort to prevent a new generation of smokers from becoming addicted to tobacco.
When: Saturday, February 21, 2015 at 2:00 p.m.
Where: Niagara Falls International Rainbow Bridge
Why: Research shows the more youth see smoking in movies, the more likely they are to start smoking themselves. In addition, a report released by the Ontario Tobacco Research Unit in 2014 stated that of the 1,434 top-grossing movies released in theatres between 2004 and 2013, 57% featured on-screen tobacco – of these, 86% were rated for youth in Ontario.
The Ontario Coalition for Smoke-Free Movies is a group of health organizations taking action to counter the harmful effects of smoking in youth-rated movies. Members of the coalition include the Canadian Cancer Society Ontario Division, Heart and Stroke Foundation of Ontario, Non-Smokers’ Rights Association/Smoking and Health Action Foundation, Ontario Lung Association, Physicians for a Smoke-Free Canada and the Ontario Tobacco Control Networks of Public Health Units. Visit: www.smokefreemovies.ca
Media Contact:
Dan Flaherty, Communications Manager, Middlesex-London Health Unit, 519-663-5317 extension 2469 or 519-617-0570 (cell.)