Don't Get Suckered into Smoking

“A cigarette in the hands of a Hollywood star on screen is a gun aimed at a 12 or 14 year old. The gun will go off when that kid is an adult. " ~Joe Eszterhas~

Smoking in films influences kids to smoke, plain and simple. Stick a cigarette in a teen idol's mouth, and the message is: Cool people smoke. Smoking will make you popular. Screenwriter Joe Eszterhas, who's movies include Jagged Edge, Flashdance, and Basic Instinct, contracted throat cancer, and since then has gained a very different outlook on smoking in films.

Joe has written and filmed a 30 second public service announcement about the hazards of smoking. Funded by the Cleaveland Clinic, it's being shown in theaters in the Cleaveland area before the feature film starts. “I glamorized smoking in my movies,” Eszterhas says on screen to moviegoers. “Then I got throat cancer. Maybe that’s my punishment. Please, don’t let people like me kill you.” Joe was treated at The Cleaveland Clinic, and together they will now launch the "Join Joe" Anti-Smoking Campaign, aimed at stopping smoking in films.