Tobacco advertising ban causes heads to smoke in Solothurn
The Solothurn Cantonal Council will vote on Wednesday on a new health law that would ban the advertising of tobacco products. Heated discussions already took place during Tuesday’s initial debate.
On Wednesday, the Solothurn Cantonal Council will decide on a new health law that provides for a ban on advertising tobacco products. Parliament passed the bill on Tuesday. There were already heated discussions during the debate. The ban on advertising and sponsorship for tobacco on public land or on private land if it can be seen from public land is particularly controversial (see Canton of Solothurn wants to ban tobacco advertising).CVP and SP advocated a ban on advertising because advertising is too strongly geared towards young people. The ban on advertising means protecting young people, explained SP/Greens spokesperson Stephanie Affolter (Biberist). The FDP, on the other hand, called for the advertising ban to be removed from the bill. They considered this to be an inadmissible encroachment on the freedom of trade and commerce, as stated in their motion. The SVP demanded the same in its own motion.
The final decision will be made by the Cantonal Council at its meeting on Wednesday. The government wants to voluntarily submit the law to the people. On September 24, Baselland will also vote on a ban on tobacco and alcohol advertising. If the people of Basel vote yes, the business newspaper Cash predicts a wave of bans that will sweep through the whole of Switzerland (see
Impending advertising bans endanger the advertising industry).
