Film and fashion smoking assailed

The movie and fashion industries should stop glamorizing smoking, the World Health Organization said Tuesday. It urged them to “stop being used as vehicles of death and disease.”

The U.N. body, trying to realize a global anti-tobacco treaty, called on the film industry to avoid presenting smoking in a favorable light and on the fashion industry not to use cigarettes as fashion accessories.

People under 17 should be barred from watching films in which anyone smokes, cigarette brands should not be identified on screen and cinemas should run strong anti-tobacco advertisements, the organization said.

“The world of film and fashion cannot be accused of causing cancer,” the group said in a statement. “But they do not have to promote a product that does.”