Actually I see it as success. The people cannot trust their elected representatives to do what the majority favours so they take the initiative and do what is wright.
I understand referenda get laws changed according to the will of the people but that’s not the same as the government ignoring the will of the people because they are in the pocket of tobacco companies or they personally don’t like what the people have demanded as it might impinge on their own lives in some way.
The problem is, officially, they don’t seem to agree to the bans.
This is from the SBB website in response to a criticism of the “shameful smoking policy”:
SBB takes the issue of protecting passengers against passive smoking very seriously. We are sorry to hear of your annoyance at other people smoking in the station.
SBB prohibits smoking in areas where passengers or staff would be severely affected by the tobacco smoke. This is why smoking is banned in all the publicly accessible enclosed spaces and passageways of our stations and across the board in our shopping arcades and underground stations. Those of our customers who do smoke would find a smoking ban in places where air can circulate freely (e.g. on concourses with high ceilings or on platforms) hard to understand.
Although there are currently no plans for a blanket smoking ban in stations, SBB is keen to identify potential solutions in this regard. We are constantly looking into this issue and have, for instance, already studied the model of special smoking areas on platforms. Given the space requirements and the concentrated build-up of smoke, such areas could probably only be set up at the end of the platforms where few people tend to congregate. This would be likely to annoy smokers, especially since the ends of many platforms are exposed to the elements. In addition, as these zones would not be enclosed spaces and the surrounding area would therefore not be completely shielded from the smoke, this model would not help to solve the problem fully. If we are presented with different findings or identify an ideal solution, we will take appropriate action.
SBB has put additional measures in place since the smoking ban was introduced on its trains and in large parts of its stations. Signage has been significantly improved, additional ashtrays have been installed and our staff have been reminded to ensure that passengers do not smoke in a designated no-smoking area.
SBB Real Estate also conducted market research into smoking at stations last year and found that two-thirds of the 1,000 people surveyed (both smokers and non-smokers) are satisfied with the current situation. As things stand, therefore, we will not be making any changes to our current solution – having zones in our stations where smoking is prohibited and zones where it is permitted – which is currently largely accepted, practical and in line with legal requirements.
Seems like a referendum would be the only way forward in that case.
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Smoking and especially selling tobacco products is a very easy to manage tax revenue stream for the government. Furthermore, it’s basically a “stupid tax” (Dummensteuer) - so while I personally don’t like smoke and don’t smoke in general, the hysteria that is sometimes spread of forums is a bit too much, In my opinion.
The Australian government have discovered that it’s not so easy.
They have taxed tobacco products at such a high level that this tax doesn’t boost government coffers as everyone is buying black market cigarettes and that comes with the cost of extreme gang violence including burning down of shops.
If governments are serious about smoking cessation they need to make it as difficult as possible for people to actually use the products.
Sure, but we’re talking about Switzerland… Gang violence can not only be explained by high taxes on drugs, it’s a cultural problem as well.
Cigarettes have a pretty inelastic price demand but I bet even Swiss have a limit and with open borders, a black market would soon start up, with more than one player - this is when things get nasty.