Anti-smoking groups start advertising push in Pa.

Publication Date: 2007-09-13

• Author:Ann Belser
• Publication:Pittsburgh (PA) Post-Gazette

Now, as lawmakers return to Harrisburg, a coalition of interested groups is trying a new tactic to get the Legislature to reach an agreement on legislation to ban smoking in workplaces, bars, restaurants and casinos.

This week, advertisements, paid for by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and calling for a statewide law banning smoking in the workplace, have started to run in newspapers and on radio stations across the state.

"We're hoping we can do it the right way, in a comprehensive way," said Patrick Conway of the Pennsylvania Restaurant Association.

Joy Blankley Meyer, the executive director of the Pennsylvania Alliance to Control Tobacco, said the idea of the ads is to raise public awareness about the issue...

Gina Ivey, the spokeswoman for the Princeton-based Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, said it got involved through the state-by-state efforts of the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids.

Gov. Ed Rendell has asked the Legislature to make a smoking law a priority when members return Monday from the summer recess.