Shurtleff joins call for less smoking in flicks

The state's top law enforcement official is again asking Hollywood to curb images of smoking in movies.

Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff joined 31 other state attorneys general on Wednesday in asking major motion picture studios to insert anti-smoking public service announcements in all DVDs that depict smoking.

The action was prompted by a study indicating that young people exposed to smoking scenes in movies were nearly three times more likely to smoke than peers without similar exposure, according to a news release from the Utah Attorney General's Office.

The requested PSA will be produced using funds from states' 1998 Master Settlement Agreement with tobacco companies and will run in theaters across the country, according to the office.

In 2003, Shurtleff and his colleagues met with top directors and studio executives in Los Angeles to discuss a connection between movies and teen smoking.