Smoking Rihanna Riles Cancer Group

Rihanna’s latest video for her hit, We Found Love, has been slammed by an Ulster Cancer charity, because of the amount of smoking depicted.

The Ulster Cancer Foundation (UCF) said artists such as Rihanna were held in high esteem and regarded as role-models by millions of young people and were upset by her regular smoking in the video.

The music video for We Found Love (In a Hopeless Place) was filmed in Northern Ireland and attracted a lot of controversy over the pop star's scantily clad shoot in a farm belonging to a DUP councilor who objected.

Now, the UCF are saying they are "very concerned" that young people watching the video will see smoking as glamorous and want to copy Rihanna's behaviour.

Doreen Regan, Cancer Prevention Officer at UCF, said: “After so much hype around the filming of the video it was very disappointing to see Rihanna so blatantly smoking throughout it.

“Three-quarters of adult smokers start the habit as teenagers which is why it is so irresponsible of Rihanna to influence her young fan base in this way.

“Too many young women are smoking and there is now a rising trend in lung cancer rates among women. There are almost 400 new cases of lung cancer diagnosed in women in Northern Ireland with 380 deaths each year.

"That means there are more local women dying from lung cancer than from breast and cervical cancer combined."

The UCF said that tobacco remains the biggest preventable cause of death and disease in our society killing 2,500 people here every year, which is seven local people each day.

“Young people who experiment with tobacco can become quickly addicted. The earlier a young person begins to smoke the worse the impact on their health including wheeziness and shortness of breath compared to those who do not smoke, and impaired lung growth and function which may lead to lung cancer in later life.”

(DW)