Voters to decide on passive smoking initiative
An alliance of organisations in Switzerland has handed in a people’s initiative to force a nationwide vote on a uniform passive smoking ban.
The initiative, backed by 133,000 signatures, calls for such a ban in all public places.
The president of the Swiss Lung Association, Otto Piller, said that federal legislation on passive smoking introduced on May 1 has created a situation in which the cantons each have different norms and regulations.
It did not cover, for example, restaurant employees who had to serve in restaurants with special smoking areas, so-called “fumoirs”. He said current legislation was not enough to protect them.
Senate member Erika Forster, who represents canton St Gallen, argued that the initiative was not aimed against restaurateurs or smokers but was for the protection of employees.
Supporters of the initiative hope that it will go before the electorate in 2012. The GastroSuisse federation of hoteliers and restaurateurs has already announced its opposition.
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