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Addiction Switzerland said a survey conducted last year showed one in three 15-year-olds used tobacco or other nicotine products within the previous month.

The strongest increase was recorded last year for e-cigarettes, particularly among girls, compared to a poll carried out in 2018, the organisation said on Monday.

About 8% of the girls surveyed regularly smoked e-cigarettes, while 6% said they smoked conventional cigarettes; the percentage among boys for both categories was 7%.

Voters have agreed to limit advertising for tobacco products that may be seen by young people in Switzerland.
On Sunday 56.6% of voters supported the “Yes to the protection of children against tobacco advertising” people’s initiative. A majority of the country’s 26 cantons also backed the proposal, allowing it to pass.

People living in French- and Italian-speaking cantons and urban areas supported the call for tighter advertising restrictions. A number of German-speaking cantons from central and eastern Switzerland were against the initiative.

Swiss MP Lukas Reimann explains how a chance encounter with Swedish snus helped him kick a 20-year smoking habit, legalise snus in Switzerland, and become an outspoken ambassador for smokeless nicotine products. [...] In the decade since he transitioned from cigarettes to snus, Reimann has tried to introduce snus to other friends struggling to quit cigarettes.

“They’ve tried medicine, therapies, even hypnosis. And nothing helped. And then I gave them this small can and they’ve told me, ‘I’ve stopped smoking! Thank you so much!’” he explains.

The committed libertarian believes smokers don’t want to be seen as “sick patients”. [...]

Swiss voters will decide on February 13 on a wide ban on tobacco advertising, aimed at protecting young people. Switzerland, home to the world’s largest cigarette companies, has some of the weakest laws against tobacco advertising in Europe. In Switzerland about a quarter of the population are smokers, including around 100,000 aged 15 to 19. The people's initiative, launched in 2018, calls for a ban on “any form of advertising [of tobacco products] that reaches children and young people”. Only tobacco advertising directly targeting adults would be allowed. The initiative also seeks to outlaw sponsoring by tobacco firms.

On 17 December 2021, Switzerland’s Federal Council put forward a plan to tax the liquids used for e-cigarettes, reported RTS. The Federal Council is proposing a tax similar to the tax on tobacco but at a lower rate in line with e-cigarettes’ lower toxicity. The government does not want to discourage tobacco smokers from transitioning to e-cigarettes and proposes a rate 77% lower than the tax on tobacco cigarettes. The aim is to discourage young people from developing an unhealthy e-cigarette habit, said the government.

The long-running debate was heated until the end, with the political left trying in vain to push through a more restrictive approach to tobacco products.

Poster advertising of tobacco products and e-cigarettes that can be seen from public places, as well as advertising in cinemas, on public transport, in buildings and on sports fields, will be banned. [...] However, the House of Representatives on Wednesday agreed with the Senate and rejected a ban on menthol cigarettes. [...]

Cannadips CBD, an award-winning brand and a pioneer of the pouches format in the CBD hemp sector, was first introduced to Europe in Q3 2019 and has since been activated in 15 European markets, including Switzerland. "This latest addition of COOP retail stores in Switzerland is truly a fantastic opportunity for the Cannadips brand in one of our most strategic markets where Cannadips was already available at 107 Valora kkiosk stores and approximately 150 independent retail and wholesale providers," says SpectrumLeaf CEO Felix Sundstrom. 

Although Switzerland – home to the three biggest tobacco firms – has not yet ratified the World Health Organization (WHO) Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTCexternal link), the city of Geneva is hosting an important meeting this week on the treaty. In his first speech to the Geneva-based Human Rights Council last February, Swiss Foreign Affairs Minister Ignazio Cassis insisted on the importance of civil and political rights, highlighting economic freedom and the guarantee of private property for securing stability and peace.

The American company JUUL, which specializes in the manufacture of electronic cigarettes that look like thumb drives, is preparing to set up in the Swiss city of Zug, according to the Zefix trade register. Juul Labs Switzerland is listed on the commercial register external link as a producer, distributor or exporter for the retail and wholesale trade of electronic cigarettes and accessories.