It might surprise you, but all the research shows that seeing things like marlboro cigarettes, will make people more likely to crave it. Seeing alcohol or cigarettes in the media increases the chances of people smoking (starting, having a smoke etc). Being around people who are smoking/drinking/generally enjoying themselves does make that behaviour more prevalent. Which is one of the reasons that it is illegal for tobacco companies to advertise (Canada has less than half the rate of smokers than Britain.. weird hey). And the violence one is a big one too. It has been proven in a thousand ways a thousand times that seeing violence does increase violence in young people. Just seeing a picture of a gun makes subsequent aggression more likely given the opppourtunity. People see on TV -- people do. It's that simple, and the government knows this. Now, that being said, I think people should have the freedom to kill themselves in whatever way they see fit -- especially in ways that strengthen the economy. I don't think it is the government's responsibility to censor video games -- that is the parent's responsibility. I also think it is a person's own responsibility to be informed about the effects advertising can have on people. Unfortunately, people generally don't really know. But then, it goes further because alcohol and tobacco addictions cots governments ridiculous amounts of money in healthcare every year. Which starts to make it more their business, when there are still alot of people to kill in Iraq (and that sure is costing alot of money)