Health officials criticize MPAA

Los Angeles County public health officials say that the Motion Picture Assn. of America has not done enough to cut cigarettes out of the picture.

Officials with the film group said last year that they would consider more restrictive ratings for movies that glamorize smoking or show smoking outside of historic or other mitigating contexts. But that hasn’t produced satisfactory results, health officials said.

Dr. Jonathan Fielding, director of the L.A. County Dept. of Public Health, said research shows a correlation between youth smoking and depictions of smokers in movies. The country has produced a 15-second anti-smoking message that it hopes to show in local movie theaters this summer.