Not really, you never make much sense.

People put up with smoking here because, in the words of lots of Swiss people I know", it's the way it's always been.

That doesn't make it right or healthy or pleasant. And, it's a pretty poor argument for the carry on here.

There's direct democracy here. I'm spreading the word that in other countries, one can't just light up in a children's playground, or paddling pool, or at a sports track and so on. It could be the same here.
People can, and will vote to change the way things are.
I'm sowing a seed in their minds.

Live and let live.

Clearer now?

No, I think that's a ridiculous, selfish saying.


It's a bit one-sided if, as happened yesterday, we went to the badi and it was fairly packed because of the weather.
Almost everyone around us was smoking - it was like being in a U.K. pub in the eighties.

So, why couldn't I go to the badi and have clean air? The smokers got what they wanted. Why couldn't I have what I wanted?

There are dozens of badis. What was stopping you from exercising your freedom of choice to go elsewhere?

We did the week before - we hiked to a mountain lake with beautiful clean mountain air.

This weekend, all the badis were full and we had to be close to home to get kids back and forth to prior engagements.

But yes, if there were non-smoking badis -we'd go there on busy days.

Looks like a commercial opportunity for someone somewhere.

My wife, who's Swiss, and a scientist who has worked in cancer research, said whilst direct democracy is pretty good, it falls down in areas such as public health.
The general public just don't have the knowledge and expertise to make decisions on such complex and emotive subjects as public health issues and possible long and short term outcomes of such issues.

If Switzerland acted like all the other developed countries then smoking would indeed be banned on railway platforms, badis, public play areas and so on.

Just because it isn't doesn't make it a good thing.

Children are now dying because of ignorant and arrogant parents who believe in some mumbo-jumbo which has been written for the internet by some anti-vac people and masquerades as science.
At least California is doing something about it.

There was an article in 20 Minuten about the desire to ban smoking on playgrounds here as they have done in France, and of course, there were some 600 or so outraged comments from smokers decrying their loss of freedoms.


http://www.20min.ch/schweiz/news/story/21815028

Unbelievable comments.

Including, "Children see smoking everywhere else so why not in the playground too?"

Which seems to be the general attitude here.

Interestingly, the article mentions badis too.

Do you use perfume? Even occasionally?

I don't.

I agree with Diamondscan.

Can you please find a better argument than that poor excuse for one.

All that and still no bloody train station......

Or maybe live and let die in this case?

He was a wrinkled old goat, but I'm pretty sure he wasn't Roger Moore.

While I couldn't care less if people were drinking to death or injecting heroin next to me on a train platform, I do mind when they exhale second hand smoke toward me and my children.

Kill and give yourself cancer if you want to, but don't share it with me or my children!!!

I'm not sure they'd get cancer from some smoke from a couple of cigarettes - although passive smoking in larger amounts has shown to cause various long-term health problems.

But, the big problem with smoking in Switzerland is that it has remained normalised when in other countries, it is perceived as unhealthy and not a good example to set to children.

The number of Swiss non-smokers who just except smoking and shrug their shoulders is huge.
They've got so used to the smoke that they just accept it (and the consequences of it) as a kind of background noise.

I don't want my kids to see smoking as a normal thing like eating an apple or going for a walk.
Yes, I expect they may try one or two as a teenager but I don't want them to see it as a normal habit taken up by most adults as it was in the last century.

Other countries have broken the cycle (or are in the process of doing so).

Switzerland has direct democracy and the people here either are addicts themselves or they simply do not have the gumption to push through stricter bans because they cannot see the bigger picture.

ACCEPT, not EXCEPT!

Tom

I completely agree with this... I am really surprised how many people smoke on a regular basis, especially young teens. Clearly schools and parents and advertising do not put anywhere near the effort into anti-smoking sentiments as other developed EU countries if kids think it's so normal. It's a real shame from a country which otherwise sets the bar for healthy people imo.

Factsheet on second hand smoke:
http://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/data_stat...ealth_effects/

I came across an expectant mother last week. With a month or two to go, she was merrily puffing away.

Some trailblazers at my university managed to bring about a rule preventing smoking in the buildings (I am told that students used to smoke in classes too). This does work, but this now results in wading past clouds of smoke by the entrances. Perhaps that might be a way ahead- a canton/nationwide referendum on smoking...

Surely you can understand that as much as you might love to beat this dead horse even further, some of us would love to have even ONE day here without having to read the same idiotic remarks. Alas, I keep hoping.

Peace from a happy ex-smoker