'NO' TO FULL BAN ON SMOKING
Voters in Switzerland appear to have rejected a total ban on smoking in enclosed public places at a referendum.
* Hotels, restaurants and bars are currently allowed to have
rooms for smokers.
* But critics say this harms the health of those who
work in them.
* Restrictions introduced 2 years ago were watered down after lobbying from the catering trade and tobacco firms.
With returns from nearly all 26 cantons counted, the full ban seemed to have been rejected convincingly.
Zurich newspaper Neue Zuercher Zeitung suggested voters had rejected the ban by nearly two-thirds.
In some cantons, more than 70% of voters rejected the ban,
according to Geneva newspaper 'La Tribune de Geneve'. Strangely, Geneva itself has bucked
the trend by supporting the ban by 52% to 48%.
Geneva and 7 other cantons have already imposed their own
comprehensive bans on indoor smoking in places of employment while the
remaining, smaller cantons have been less restrictive.
