Cancer expert slams Met Gala celebs for smoking

Although the annual Met Gala is meant to celebrate fashion, an alternative theme this year seemed to endorse smoking.

Despite the known dangers of tobacco use, Hollywood stars ignored health risks and posed for pictures dangling cigarettes from their mouths and fingertips.

Decades of research point to the multiple issues smoking can lead to, including lung cancer, clogged arteries and shortened life expectancy.

With the hazards that tobacco are proven to cause, medical experts are condemning celebrities who are glamorizing the harmful practice.

Figures show that smoking rates for teens are at an all-time low following anti-tobacco programs and Hollywood censoring smoking in movies, restricting it for younger audiences.

Nonetheless, Bill Blatt of the American Lung Association warns that younger people seeing the glamorized snapshots may be encouraged to pick up a cigarette.

Dakota Johnson was one of the many stars snapped at the Met Gala smoking in the bathroom. Cancer experts have slammed Hollywood celebrities for ‘glamorizing cigarette use’ 

Bella Hadid was pictured smoking next to Lara Stone, Paris Jackson and Ruby Rose. Smoking at an early age for women can cause fertility issues

Blatt, the national director of tobacco control programs at the American Lung Association, said he was disappointed in the pictures.

He said: ‘It is a little alarming. At one point smoking was fashionable but we are worried that younger people will try and emulate the stars. Celebrities smoking is one of the most effective forms of marketing.’

Blatt said that although lung cancer is one of the most commonly associated results of smoking and the leading cancer killer, tobacco virtually harms every aspect of a person’s body.

In the United States, tobacco use kills more than 480,000 people every year – more than AIDS, alcohol, car accidents, illegal drugs, murders and suicides combined, according to the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids. 

Those who are heavy smokers are 87 percent more likely to develop a life-threatening disease, research shows. 

Even those who only smoke once a day are 64 percent more likely to have a shorter life expectancy than non-smokers.

Marc Jacobs, 54, Courtney Love, 52, and her daughter Frances Bean Cobain, 24, all posed for a picture in the bathroom while smoking. Lung cancer is one of the most commonly associated results of smoking and tobacco virtually harms every aspect of a person’s body 

Rita Ora also shared a snap with Mr Robot actor Rami Malek, 35, who held a cigarette in his mouth 

In addition to being a ‘deadly product’, cigarettes link back to addiction, heart disease, harming the respiratory system and even fertility issues.

Blatt added that with young women such as models Bella Hadid and Slick Woods, smoking can prevent pregnancy and cause issues maintaining carrying a baby to full term.

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Experts are concerned that the Hollywood glamorization of smoking influences teens to pick up the practice. And even the industry agrees. 

The Motion Picture Association of America can determine the rating of a movie in the G, PG and PG-13 rank, based on the amount of smoking shown in a film.

However, smoking rates are falling rapidly. The rate among adults in the U.S. fell to 15 percent in 2015 thanks to the biggest one-year decline in more than 20 years, according to a report.

The rate fell two percentage points from 2014, when about 17 percent of adults said they had recently smoked in a large national survey. 

Slick Woods and model Adwoa Aboah posed for Ashley Graham’s camera, while Jourdan Dunn can be seen posing in the background. Smoking rates are falling rapidly over the years and was down to 15 percent in 2015

Taylor Hill, Behati Prinsloo and Hailey Baldwin all posed for a picture, in which Behati was openly smoking a cigarette

About 50 years ago, roughly 42 percent of U.S. adults smoked. It was common nearly everywhere – in office buildings, restaurants, airplanes and even hospitals.

The smoking rate’s gradual decline has coincided with an increased public understanding that smoking is a cause of cancer, heart disease and other lethal health problems.

Experts attribute recent declines decline to the mounting impact of anti-smoking advertising campaigns, cigarette taxes and smoking bans.

The increased marketing of electronic cigarettes and their growing popularity has also likely played a role. But it is not yet clear whether this will further propel the decline in smoking, or contribute to an increase in smoking in years to come.