Home World French health ministry extends smoking ban

French health ministry extends smoking ban

A man smokes a cigarette outside a brasserie, in front of a sticker on a window reading:

A man smokes a cigarette outside a brasserie, in front of a sticker on a window reading: “Smoking is forbidden.” JACQUES BRINON/AP hide caption

toggle caption

JACQUES BRINON/AP

PARIS — France will ban smoking on beaches, in public gardens and near schools starting from July 1st in an effort to protect young people from tobacco and limit the influence of smokers upon them.

“Tobacco must disappear where there are children,” said Health Minister Catherine Vautrin, in an interview with French newspaper Ouest-France on Thursday. Vautrin emphasized that the freedom to smoke “ends where children’s right to breathe clean air begins.”

Middle and high schools will also be affected by the ban, particularly to prevent “students from smoking in front of their schools,” said Vautrin.

Sponsor Message

Any American visitor to France will be struck by the number of smokers in general and especially the number of young people puffing away on café terraces.

But tobacco use in France has actually been on the decline in recent years. Smoking is at its lowest level since the 1990s with 23% of the adult population reporting lighting up every day. Tobacco use is also declining among young people — only 16% of 17-year-olds report smoking, whereas six years ago it was 25%.

The expansion of smoke-free zones is one of the measures outlined in a national plan to reduce tobacco use and achieve a tobacco free generation by 2032. Failure to comply with the ban could result in a fine of €135.

Nearly 7,000 smoke-free zones have already been created by 1,600 volunteer cities and towns, including beaches, parks, ski slopes and areas around schools.

The new measure has strong public support. According to a survey conducted for the French League Against Cancer, 78% of respondents wanted to do away with cigarettes in new public spaces.

Speaking to newspaper Le Monde, Daniel Thomas, a spokesperson for the French Society of Tobacco Studies called it “an excellent measure” that “widens the space for denormalizing tobacco use.”

France first banned smoking inside public buildings in 2007, a ban that was extended to cafés, restaurants and nightclubs in 2008. Many thought the ban would be difficult to enforce considering the place the smoky café holds in French cultural lore.

Sponsor Message

While it was immediately successful, smokers simply migrated outside, turning the sidewalk into the place to avoid if you’re a non-smoker.

The French health ministry attributes around 200 deaths per day to tobacco use, making it the leading preventable cause of death.

The societal cost of tobacco is estimated at €156 billion a year. It is also a major pollutant, with 20,000 to 25,000 metric tons of cigarette butts discarded annually.

The city of Paris has just launched a new campaign to reduce the 2 billion cigarette butts left on its streets every year.

The new ban will not apply to e-cigarettes, which have been on the rise in the past five years with 6% of adults saying they now use them.

On a park bench under a tree in Paris 15th arrondissement, 26-year-old student Ouadere Thevet is enjoying a smoke. Kids play on a jungle gym nearby. Even though he won’t be able to do this after June, Thevet says he’s for the measure.

“We can always find other smoking spots like outdoor cafés,” he says. “This hurts kids so we shouldn’t do it around them.”

Thevet says he became a smoker after fooling around with cigarettes with his friends in his teens. He thinks the measure could have a big impact.

“I think restricting the places where you can smoke might actually push a lot of people to quit.”

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here

Must Read

Food for Gaza decays in Jordan warehouses as Israel restricts aid

Displaced Palestinians, including women and children living in tents, receive food distributed by aid organizations in al-Mawasi district of Khan Younis, Gaza, on May 30. In Jordan, tens of thousands of boxes of food aid for Gaza are moldering in warehouses. Abed Rahim/Anadolu via Getty Images hide caption toggle caption Abed Rahim/Anadolu via Getty Images

Hegseth says the U.S. will reposition military amid threat from China

U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth delivers an address at the Shangri-La Dialogue Summit in Singapore on Saturday. Mohd Rasfan/AFP via Getty Images hide caption toggle caption Mohd Rasfan/AFP via Getty Images SINGAPORE — Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth gave a stark warning Saturday about China's threat to the status quo in Asia. He said the

Ultramarathon runner breastfeeds her baby 3 times on her way to a surprise win

Stephanie Case won an ultramarathon race in Wales, running more than 60 miles over rough terrain — and stopping three times to breastfeed her 6-month-old baby, Pepper. Rich Gill hide caption toggle caption Rich Gill In the sport of ultrarunning, athletes often defy human limits. But at a recent 100-kilometer race in Wales, one runner

Billowing smoke from Canadian wildfires wafts into the U.S.

Clouds of wildfire smoke like this one in Flin Flon, Manitoba, are wafting into the Northern Plains and Midwest. Government of Manitoba/Anadolu via Getty Images hide caption toggle caption Government of Manitoba/Anadolu via Getty Images Thick, billowing clouds of smoke are sweeping south from wildfires ravaging the central Canadian province of Manitoba into parts of

Former Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams wins libel case against BBC over spy murder claim

Former Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams leaves the court in Dublin on Friday after winning one of Ireland's highest-profile cases. Charles McQuillan/Getty Images hide caption toggle caption Charles McQuillan/Getty Images LONDON — Gerry Adams, the former president of Sinn Fein, the Irish republican party, has won his libel case against the BBC over a documentary