SmokeFreeOhio partners with Applebee’s to celebrate the company’s one-year smoke-free anniversary and support clean indoor air in Ohio

Cincinnati, Ohio—June 23, 2005: Today, clean indoor air advocates gathered at a Cincinnati Applebee’s ( 7920 Beechmont Avenue) to celebrate the restaurant’s one-year smoke-free anniversary. A year ago, Thomas & King, owner of the Cincinnati Applebee’s, made all eighty of their restaurants smoke-free to protect their customers’ and employees’ health and have found that it’s been good for business, also. SmokeFreeOhio, the American Cancer Society, the American Lung Association, Asian American Youth Against Tobacco, and Thomas & King staff also took this opportunity to show their support for smoke-free public places and workplaces.

“Ensuring clean air for our guests and employees is the right thing to do,” said Mike Scanlon, CEO and founder of Thomas & King. “We believe that saving lives is just good business—that’s why we’re proud to stand with an organization like SmokeFreeOhio.” Company CEO Mike Scanlon also serves as vice-mayor of Lexington, Kentucky, where he led the successful effort to pass a clean air ordinance that ranks among the nation’s most comprehensive.

Tracy Sabetta, Co-Chair of SmokeFreeOhio, added, “We applaud Applebee’s as a good corporate citizen who clearly values the health of the families that patronize their restaurants and the people who work for them. They have proven that clean indoor air can be good for people and good for business.”

“Secondhand smoke is dangerous to everyone who breathes it, but especially to children, seniors, and people with lung diseases,” stated Joel Kaplan, Director of the American Lung Association in Southwest Ohio. “Everyone has the right to breathe clean indoor air and that’s why we support a SmokeFreeOhio.”

Charlie Doan, board member for the American Cancer Society in Cincinnati, said, “Secondhand smoke causes cancer, heart disease and lung disease in nonsmokers. We are asking that smokers step outside for a few minutes to smoke to help protect everyone’s health.”

Mitchell Chung, with Asian American Youth Against Tobacco, explained why his organization supports smoke-free public places, “Many of the people working in the hospitality industry are young people. It is unfair that they have to risk their health and life to support themselves or work their way through college. Everyone has the right to breathe clean indoor air.”

Nine-year-old Jacob Carson explained that he can’t go to some restaurants or bowling alleys because secondhand smoke can give him an asthma attack. “One of the biggest things I notice when we go out, is if someone is smoking, because it makes it hard for me to breathe and that’s no fun, believe me! I really like Applebee’s because their food is good and it’s smoke-free—that’s great for me and for everybody.”

Thomas & King is America’s ninth largest restaurant franchise company, operating Applebee’s in Ohio, Kentucky, Pennsylvania and Arizona.

SmokeFreeOhio is a campaign by the American Cancer Society in collaboration with the American Heart Association, American Lung Association, the Ohio Health Commissioners Association, the Ohio Hospital Association, the Ohio State Medical Association, and the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, and other supporting organizations to create smoke-free public places and workplaces in the state of Ohio.

Contact: Tracey Carson, SmokeFreeOhio at the American Heart Association, Phone: 937-224-3571, Cell: 513-907-1322, tcarson@heart.org