Does Smoking in Movies Lead Teens to Smoke?
Key takeaways
Authors at the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report that the Surgeon General found a causal link between smoking in movies and young people starting to smoke. The World Health Organization wants films with smoking rated for age. In Canada, the federal promotion ban does not apply to a film that shows tobacco if no one paid for it, and Ontario no longer requires movie ratings.
Yes, according to the public health agencies that have studied it. Authors at the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report that the Surgeon General concluded there is a causal relationship between depictions of smoking in the movies and smoking initiation among young people. In Canada, no federal or Ontario rule we found ties smoking scenes to an age rating, as of 27 October 2026.
What does the evidence say?
The strongest statement comes from the 2012 US Surgeon General’s report, as relayed in a CDC-authored article in Preventing Chronic Disease. We could not open the report itself, so we quote the article’s description of it. The article also says youth heavily exposed to on-screen smoking are about two to three times as likely to start smoking as lightly exposed youth.
The World Health Organization puts a number on it. It says studies in the United States attribute 37% of all new adolescent smokers to on-screen smoking, and that the US Surgeon General reported adult ratings for future films with smoking would cut youth smoking by nearly one-fifth. These are American estimates. We found no official Canadian figure of the same kind.
How common is smoking in films?
WHO reports that smoking appeared in 44% of Hollywood films in 2014 and in 36% of films rated for young people. Across 2002 to 2014, 59% of top-grossing films featured tobacco imagery. These figures describe the US industry’s output; we found no official Canadian count.
What does WHO recommend?
WHO’s third edition of Smoke-free movies: from evidence to action (22 October 2015) is meant to help countries understand why and how to limit smoking in films. It ties its advice to Article 13 of the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, the part that requires parties to ban tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship. WHO’s list is:
- Give films with tobacco imagery an age classification.
- Require a credit stating the producers received nothing of value for using tobacco.
- End the display of tobacco brands in films.
- Show strong anti-smoking advertisements before such films in cinemas, on television and online.
- Make productions that promote smoking ineligible for public subsidies.
What does Canadian law say about tobacco in films?
The federal Tobacco and Vaping Products Act bans promotion, which section 18 defines as a representation about a product likely to influence and shape attitudes, beliefs and behaviours. But section 18(2)(a) carves out a literary, dramatic, musical, cinematographic, scientific, educational or artistic work that uses or depicts a tobacco product or tobacco-related brand element, on one condition: no manufacturer or retailer gave anything, directly or indirectly, for the depiction. Section 18(3)(a) gives the same exception for vaping products.
On the Act’s wording, a film may show a cigarette. What the exception turns on is payment: an unpaid depiction is outside the ban, while a paid placement is not. The wider rules are in what tobacco advertising is still allowed.
Are films rated for smoking in Canada?
In Ontario, the answer is no longer a rating at all. The province’s page says there is no longer a requirement to provide movie ratings for films shown in Ontario. Under the Film Content Information Act, 2020, exhibitors must give consumers information about a film’s content before the show, display it at the venue or otherwise make it public, and say who to contact with questions. The page gives examples of what that information could cover: the intended audience age, nudity, sexual activity, violence, coarse language and substance use, which it says includes tobacco, vapour products and cannabis. Those are examples, not a requirement to flag smoking. The page was last updated on 15 May 2023.
We did not find official film classification rules on smoking from other provinces, so we make no claim about them.
Reading the numbers
Two cautions. The causal conclusion rests on United States research and a body of studies, and WHO’s percentages are estimates for that market. And a film is only one influence among many. For Canadian smoking rates and what has moved them, see smoking rates in Canada and the history of tobacco control. How governments try to make smoking look less normal is covered in industry denormalization.
This page is general information, not medical advice.
Health information is general and educational. It does not replace advice from a doctor, pharmacist or nurse. Read the full disclaimer.
Frequently asked questions
Does smoking in movies make teenagers start smoking?
Authors from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention write that the Surgeon General concluded there is a causal relationship between depictions of smoking in the movies and smoking initiation among young people. They add that heavily exposed youth are about 2 to 3 times as likely to start as lightly exposed youth.
Is it legal to show cigarettes in a film in Canada?
Yes. Section 18(2) of the Tobacco and Vaping Products Act says the tobacco promotion rules do not apply to a cinematographic work that depicts a tobacco product or brand element, as long as no manufacturer or retailer gave anything in return for the depiction.
Do Ontario movies get an age rating for smoking?
Ontario no longer requires movie ratings. Under the Film Content Information Act, 2020, exhibitors must give consumers information about a film's content, and the government's page lists substance use, including tobacco and vapour products, as one example of what that information could cover.
Sources
- Films showing smoking scenes should be rated to protect children from tobacco addiction — World Health Organization. Accessed October 27, 2026.
- Smoke-free movies: from evidence to action, third edition — World Health Organization. Accessed October 27, 2026.
- Smoking in movies: a new CDC core surveillance indicator — Centers for Disease Control and Prevention authors, Preventing Chronic Disease. Accessed October 27, 2026.
- Tobacco and Vaping Products Act, full text — Department of Justice Canada (Justice Laws). Accessed October 27, 2026.
- Film content information in Ontario — Government of Ontario. Accessed October 27, 2026.