No ifs, ands or Butts: University of Pittsburgh Lauds Local Smoke-Free Establishments With South Side Celebration

PITTSBURGH, March 11, 2008 – Tired of coming home from a club with your clothes and hair smelling like an ashtray? Frustrated that you often have to inhale secondhand smoke to enjoy a night of good music and good company? In recognition of local venues that have voluntarily gone smoke-free, the University of Pittsburgh’s Reduce Smoking and Exposure to Tobacco (ReSET) Center presents Smoke-Free South Side Celebration, 4-6:30 p.m., Wednesday, March 19. The happy hour celebration, to be held at Club Café located at 56 South 12th St. on Pittsburgh’s South Side, will provide free tasting of local brews and information on tobacco legislation and clean indoor air, along with live music by the Zydeco Dogz. Special guests include former Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher Grant Jackson and PA State Representative Chelsa Wagner.

“It is important that people in our community can have a night out in a setting that is smoke-free and healthy,” said Stephanie R. Land, PhD, executive director, ReSET Center and research assistant professor, Department of Biostatistics, University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health (GSPH). “In absence of clean indoor air legislation, we applaud restaurant and bar owners who have acknowledged the proven health hazards of secondhand smoke and the desire of people to get together in a smoke-free environment.”

The ReSET Center was established by University of Pittsburgh faculty with expertise in tobacco-related issues to provide a resource for information on tobacco use research, prevention, control, cessation and health effects. The goal of the center is to reduce tobacco exposure regionally, nationally and globally by fostering research collaborations, providing education and facilitating communication between policymakers and researchers.

The center is chaired by Donald S. Burke, MD, dean, GSPH. Co-chairs include Steven Shapiro, MD, chair, University of Pittsburgh’s Department of Medicine and Ronald B. Herberman MD, director, University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute and UPMC Cancer Centers. The center’s steering committee includes representatives from the University of Pittsburgh, the Allegheny County Health Department, the UPMC Health Plan, Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh of UPMC and Tobacco Free Allegheny. Initial funding for the center was provided by the GSPH Office of the Dean and the University of Pittsburgh’s Vice Provost for Research.

Registration is required. Please register on line at www.publichealth.pitt.edu/reset. For more information on the Smoke-Free South Side Celebration, contact Ashley Gay at (412) 383-1573 or by email at amg139@pitt.edu.

# # #