Almost two thirds of locals want smoking to be banned from public spaces, including restaurants and bars. Young people living in French-speaking Switzerland seem to be the most enthusiastic about the idea of a ban. The Erasm Institute says that it polled 1000 people for the study on March 15th and 16th. The Institute claims to have a 3 % margin of error. Last December, similar research from the canton of Vaud’s University Institute of Preventive Medicine polled 2000 people and had figures that indicated that 76.8% of locals wanted to ban smoking. Back in October, the ’SonntagsBlick’ paper released a poll indicating that 52.2% of Swiss wanted smoke-free restaurants. In Geneva, an initiative called ’Passive Smoking and Health’ has collected more than 20,000 signatures in favor of all indoor public spaces becoming smoke-free. The text still needs to pass through cantonal parliament before it can be submitted to a popular vote.

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