Voters in Switzerland approve ban on tobacco ads in public places

ZURICH — Advertisements glamorizing cigarettes will soon be a thing of the past in Switzerland, after voters Sunday overwhelmingly approved legislation forbidding tobacco companies from displaying them in public spaces.

Health advocates have said that the legislation, which was approved in a referendum, was a significant step toward tightening the country’s loose tobacco regulations.

“Many organizations have stepped up to the plate and advocated for a solution that prioritizes youth protection,” said Flavia Wasserfallen, a member of the Swiss National Council and a proponent of the initiative.

Despite strong opposition from the tobacco industry and the government, the tougher regulations were approved by 56.6% of voters and received strong support from the country’s French- and Italian-speaking regions, despite having the country’s highest smoking rates.

Steps have been taken in recent years to try to introduce tougher regulations on tobacco-related products in Switzerland. In 2015, the Federal Council, the country’s executive branch, proposed a Tobacco Products Act that would ban the sale of tobacco and related goods to minors as well as restrict advertising.

Parliament eventually approved a weakened version of the bill, which forbade the sale of tobacco to those under 18 but let advertising continue mostly unimpeded. The revamped Tobacco Products Act, which includes the advertising-related provisions that voters approved Sunday, is expected to take effect in 2023.

“The majority of our country has decided to correct parliament’s decision on the Tobacco Products Act,” Hans Stockli, president of the committee behind the initiative, said Sunday.

Opponents of the measure called the tighter restrictions extreme. While they agreed that tobacco should be age-restricted, they said the new rules amounted to a de facto ban on a legal product because children could potentially be exposed to advertisements anywhere.

Also on Sunday, Swiss voters rejected a government plan to inject more than about $163 million into broadcast and print media every year, including support for early-morning newspaper delivery and online media to the tune of nearly $76 million a year, according to exit polls.

Some 56% of voters rejected the measure, public broadcaster SRF reported.

Opponents of the plan, which had been passed in June by Swiss lawmakers, had pulled together enough signatures in a petition to put the issue before the public, part of Switzerland’s particular form of democracy that gives voters in the country of 8.5 million a direct say in policymaking.

Foes of the plan had said the cash injection would waste taxpayer money, benefit big newspaper chains and the media moguls who run them and hurt journalistic independence by making media outlets more dependent on state handouts and thus less likely to criticize public officials. They also said it was discriminatory, since free newspapers wouldn’t benefit.

“A media subsidized by the state is a media under control. As the adage goes: ‘Don’t bite the hand that feeds you,’” wrote the opponents who pressed for the referendum.

They say big print-media groups together took in millions in profits in 2020, even during the covid-19 crisis.

Many other countries in Europe and beyond offer support to newspapers through postal fee discounts, tax breaks and other measures.

Supporters of the cash injection had countered that journalism, especially in local areas ill-served by big media groups, should be considered a public service, as are many public radio and television broadcasters in Switzerland and around Europe.

Proponents said more than 70 papers have disappeared since 2003. Advertising revenue in all print publications plunged 42% between 2016-20 in Switzerland.