For several years, the major studios and independent Weinstein Company have agreed to include anti-smoking PSAs from the American Legacy Foundation or State of Calfornia on their youth-rated DVDs with smoking (in the case of Disney, Warner and Weinstein, on all DVDs with smoking).

Yet consumers renting or buying DVDs usually have no advance notice that a DVD includes smoking because the MPAA’s ratings continue to omit any mention of smoking from most PG-13 films in nationwide release.

At point-of-sale and online, DVD retailers should post a clear warning that viewing films with smoking causes teens to smoke and should be avoided, regardless of film rating. Individual titles with a smoking hazard should be clearly marked on packaging and in product descriptions.

Discuss this issue with local store managers and follow up at the corporate level. Authoratative databases can provide the tobacco status of current films, 95% of US films released since 1999, and of top box office films back to 1991.

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