Bee Editorial
Town Board should have supported task force
The Amherst Town Board's failure to support a motion to change how smoking in movies is portrayed, requested by the Amherst Task Force for Healthy Communities * Healthy Youth, was wrong, especially after many board members said they have personal knowledge that smoking is dangerous and addicting.

The board has a track record of voting yes, to putting the town's name on almost every resolution to support this, that and the other thing, from local to federal concerns. At its last meeting, the board voted yes to support Internet sex offender legislation from Assemblyman Mark Schroeder and to recognize March 8 as "World Kidney Day" in New York State. Why the Town Board felt it inappropriate to ask the movie industry to reconsider how it portrays smoking is beyond us.

We strongly support the efforts of the Task Force and the work it does for the youth in Amherst. Albeit the wording in the resolution is strong and asks for some major changes, such as attaching an R-rating to movies with smoking in them, we are disappointed that the majority of the board chose not to offer any support.

The board had the option of amending the resolution and approving a measure more to its liking. It chose not to take that route. But to do nothing and cast the resolution aside was inappropriate, especially after it was requested by a group the board so often praises.

The smoke-free movie resolution has received the support of the World Health Organization, American Medical Association, the American Academy of Pediatrics and five other large national organizations to date. In addition, 27 state attorney generals have written to the Motion Picture Association of America, urging it to address the issue.

We understand that the Town of Amherst can't change the ratings on movies, but it can start by showing its support for change. How do board members think anything gets changed at the national level? Supervisor Satish Mohan and Council Member Deborah Bruch Bucki supported the resolution. Bucki stated that as a nurse she had seen firsthand what smoking can do to someone's body.

The statistics are out there: smoking is deadly, it causes disease, and youths are susceptible to advertising. It's not unrealistic to think that changes could be made in the film industry - it happened in advertising. According to a fact sheet from the Task Force, 20 percent of films produced in 1988-97 and rated for children, had tobacco products in them. It's a problem we are glad to see the Task Force addressing, even without the Town Board's support.