Netflix to cut smoking in future original programming

Netflix will cut down on smoking in future original programming, the streaming platform said in a statement to CBS site ComicBook.com. The move comes after criticism about the hit series "Stranger Things," which prominently features smoking from its main characters.

"Going forward, all new projects that we commission with ratings of TV-14 or below for series or PG-13 or below for films, will be smoking and e-cigarette free -- except for reasons of historical or factual accuracy," Netflix said in a statement obtained by ComicBook.com.  

It's unclear if "Stranger Things" would still feature smoking since it takes place in the 1980s.  

In programming aimed for older viewers,  "there'll be no smoking or e-cigarettes unless it's essential to the creative vision of the artist or because it's character-defining (historically or culturally important)," the statement said. 

Earlier this week, anti-smoking group Truth Initiative issued a report found that 100% of the episodes in the first two seasons of "Stranger Things" included smoking. 

Truth Initiative analyzed 79 episodes of Netflix programming, finding 866 instances of tobacco use in the 2016-17 season. The second season of "Stranger Things" accounted for 262 of those. 

The third season of "Stranger Things" started streaming on July 4.