Tobacco Use in Movies Increased, Kids Smokers

Onscreen tobacco use increased by 34% per movie last year in films targeted at children and teens, according to a new study. Researchers say the dramatic rise in smoking scenes in top-grossing U.S. movies with a G, PG, or PG-13 rating ends five years of steady decline in onscreen tobacco use. “The growth in onscreen tobacco use in 2011 reversed years of progress toward tobacco-free youth-rated movies,” write researcher Stanton Glantz, PhD, of the Center for Tobacco Control Research and Education at the University of California, San Francisco, and colleagues in Preventing Chronic Disease.

Contraband Cigarettes Grabed at Beit Bridge

Contraband cigarettes worth about R3 million have been confiscated at the Beit Bridge border post, the Tobacco Institute of SA (Tisa) said on Thursday. On Tuesday, SA Revenue Services (Sars) customs officials found the cigarettes in a fuel tanker coming into Limpopo from Zimbabwe, Tisa said in a statement. Around 25 000 cartons were concealed in the fuel tanker and its trailer. The tanks had been fitted with false compartments around the top access hatch, which meant that a dipstick test would have indicated the tanker was empty.