I continue to see people smoking in the non-smoking areas of the bahnhofs even though there are signs everywhere, both painted on the ground and sign boards at the boundaries. I walked towards some SBB security officers who were ignoring these smokers only to find these officers were about to light cigarettes of their own in the non-smoking area, too. I asked them if they could do something about the smokers smoking in front of the Coop entrance, which is in the non-smoking area, and they told me “it doesn’t matter, because we can’t fine them. If we tell them not to smoke they will do it anyway.” And they said this to me while holding cigarettes in their hands! Let’s be clear, everyone should have the right to clean air, and even Switzerland agrees with this statement. However Switzerland continues to allow the smoking population, which is a large third of the population, to pollute the walkways, restaurants, public transportation bus stops and rail stations and platforms, apartment buildings, and the entrances of all buildings. There are thousands of chemicals in second hand smoke, hundreds of which are known carcinogens, and the World Health Organization has stated “there is no safe level of second hand smoke.” The relaxed smoking regulations and lack of enforcement of what little regulations exist are a large burden on everyone in Switzerland, as 24 people die every day from smoking related illnesses, tax revenue from cigarettes are only a fraction of the health costs from smoking related illnesses and lost economic output from those who become ill due to smoking and effects of second hand smoking. So SBB, enforce your own smoking ban, because unless you do people will continue to ignore your signs, pollute the air and harm the health of everyone using your transportation services, and pollute your railways with used cigarettes.
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