See A Movie or Pop A Pill?

TV commercials for cigarettes were banned in 1965, the same year 41.9% of American's aged 18 and older were smokers.  Then, in the late 1980s, drug companies figured out how to run TV ads without breaking FDA regulations.  (see NPR's "Selling Sickness" article by Alix Spiegel).  After this revelation, TV drug ads proliferated and expenditures on prescriptions soared.

Although movie ticket prices have generally risen  faster than inflation, they have been outpaced by the rise in prescription drug costs since 1990.

It's hard to believe this increase in pill popping is really all necessary.  Wouldn't it be healthier to watch a good film?

Smoking statistics and prescription drug expenditures are from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.  Annual per capita drug costs are calculated by dividing expenditures by the total U.S. population