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Burning cigarette (symbol photo): Some of the largest tobacco companies are located in Switzerland
Photo: McPHOTO / imago images/McPHOTO
The Swiss voted on Sunday for a far-reaching ban on tobacco advertising.
According to the first official results, 54 percent of the voters and at the same time a majority of the cantons voted for the popular initiative »Children and young people without tobacco advertising«.
"We are extremely satisfied," said Stefanie de Borba from the Swiss Cancer League of the AFP news agency.
»People have understood that health is more important than economic interests.«
In Switzerland, unlike in most other industrialized countries, tobacco advertising has so far been permitted except on television and radio.
Critics attribute this to the fact that some of the largest tobacco companies such as Philip Morris International (PMI), British American Tobacco and Japan Tobacco are based in Switzerland.
PMI co-financed the campaign against the popular initiative.
The popular initiative now demands that advertising for tobacco products be banned wherever it is visible to children and young people - for example on posters, in cinemas or on the Internet.
Tobacco advertising is only permitted if it is aimed at adults, for example by e-mail.
PMI called on politicians to use "a sense of proportion" when implementing the results of the referendum.
In addition to the tobacco industry, the government and a majority in the Swiss parliament also rejected the initiative.
"Today we are talking about cigarettes, but soon we will also be talking about alcohol and meat," warned Philippe Bauer of the Liberal Party.
He didn't want to live in a "dictatorship of political correctness," "in which everything has to be regulated," he told Swiss radio.
ime/dpa/AFP
