I am afraid smoking laws are coming rather sooner than later in Switzerland. As this is not a federal law every canton can have its own laws and the first ones (e.g. Ticino) have implemented strict smoking laws banning it at least from restaurants and bars. Myself I can understand that such laws are introduced for restaurants or hotels but would regret not being able to smoke in a bar.

Cheers,

Marlboro Man

sorry jinz for using your post for this private reason but I have a msg for bowmore (hey bowmore I have sent you a PM -please have a look).

Other than that, how right you are...I have quit my very heavy smoking 18 years ago. I was in a theater in Basel and atz the interval, everybody went to the foyer and just lit up!!!!I could not breathe.

I was in Rome and scotland recently...smoking ban... a heaven. even the smokers in our company admitted taht it is much better.

I hope it will come to switzerland too, the swiss smoke a lot. a very lot.

sorry again

Tak

@bowmore

I'll invite you for a cigarette and a dram of bowmore whenever we meet. :-)

I'm surprised that you mention France, as smoking has been banned from all public areas throughout the country including bars and restaurants since beginning of this year.

Regarding Switzerland, the national parliament wants to ban smoking as well, but the law isn't yet written out. As mentionned above some cantons have gone ahead and already prohibited smoking in bars and restaurants. I guess that within two years whole Switzerland will be smoke free (at least the one caused by cigarettes...).

Thank you so much for replying everyone. I mentioned France because coming from New Zealand where smoking laws are very strict and all public areas are smoke free. This includes outdoor tourist attractions. You are quite right though that we did not experience smoking inside restaurants in France. Our worst experiences with smoking were in Lucerne and Zurich. There was huge resistance to no smoking in bars when the law was first introduced in NZ but now it has great support. The smokers now congregate in outside gardens or on the sidewalk to smoke which is nicer for everyone. Perhaps this would not be great for a snowy winter night in Switzerland!

you guys can smoke on the balcony and then i will join you for that dram.

and before you tell me off: whisky has healing properties mätzli.Honest!

oller, one word: amen.

we will only have to worry about the cars then.

tak

jinz, ref: the cold winter night? this is how i got to be with my husband. we were in a party and we were both banned to the garden when we wanted to smoke. it was winter, it was cold and this ...well brought us together. I have quit since then and hubby too (more or less).

I remember once we were in Russia and we bought some ciggies that had a very long carton tube on as an extension to the filter, you had to have industrial lungs to smoke. when we asked we were told that the filters are like that so people can hold the cigarette with their thick gloves on during the very cold russian winters.

tak

First of all thanks tak!

Whiskey and cigarettes is a combination which is difficult to beat so I will come back to your offer mutzli ;-)

Regarding smoking I still think in bars or clubs it will be kind of strange. Just was in Mascotte last night and about 90% of the people were smoking but I guess other countries proved that it works without. Anyway I am giving up, peace of cake ;-)

Cheers,

bowmore

The citizens of Geneva recently voted for a smoking ban in public places and the federal railways banned smoking on all trains last year.

this smoking ban in the trains?

Big success! Not totally.

It works brilliantly on all trains that have controllers and in the others (for instance the ones in the Jura) people (especially teenagers) smoke now everywhere and mainly in the spaces between waggons.

Horrible, you can not see yourself for all the smoke.

It makes me gag every time I have to use the train to go to my appt. in Noirmont.

Seldom, even in the controlled trains like the ones from Geneva and Lausanne to Basel or Zürich people (teenagers) smoke between the waggons.

And where I sit, near the little closed compartment reserved for the controller, eau de Marlboro sometimes wafts into the waggon itself.

So you can ban all you want but if people do not respect the rules (i.e. the other people) it does not always work 100%.

It is getting better though, i must admit that.

tak