Smoke-Free Restaurant Decal

Wake County Project ASSIST will unveil its new smoke-free restaurant decal and certificate program at Irregardless Café, 901 W. Morgan St., Friday, June 25, at 2 p.m.

The new program seeks to raise awareness of the dangers of secondhand smoke and provide Wake County citizens a smoke-free atmosphere in restaurants. Approximately 150 local restaurants are smoke-free. These will be the first to receive the smoke-free decals and certificates. Irregardless Café has been smoke-free for 20 years.

"There is evidence from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that exposure to secondhand smoke causes coronary heart disease," said Deborah Cerrito, coordinator for Wake County Project ASSIST. "People suffering from heart disease should completely avoid all indoor environments that permit smoking."

The decal is in the form of a stoplight and indicates to patrons that the restaurant is smoke-free. In addition, a certificate will be posted near the restaurant's sanitation grade. Project ASSIST is also partnering with the Town of Cary to promote voluntary smoke-free restaurants and bars.

Among Project ASSIST's goals are preventing young people from ever smoking, promoting smoking cessation among all age groups, and eliminating exposure to secondhand smoke. The program, offered through Wake County Human Services, is the local American Stop Smoking Intervention Study and organizes events to raise community awareness of tobacco-use prevention. The group also targets the elimination of environmental tobacco smoke and tobacco-related disparities among specific populations as well as how to develop tobacco-free lifestyles.

Approximately 75 percent of North Carolinians do not smoke and 65 percent prefer smoke-free restaurants, according to Project ASSIST statistics. "If we can help one person realize the life-threatening effects of secondhand smoke and ways that they can help themselves and others breathe easier, then we've made a difference," Cerrito said.

For more information on Project ASSIST or the smoke-free restaurant decal and certificate program, call 856-5233.