Health
Smoking Crackdown: New French Law Bans Cigarettes At Parks, Beaches, And Schools
The health and family ministry announced on Thursday that smoking will be prohibited in all outdoor areas that children may visit, including parks, beaches, and bus stops.
“Where there are children, tobacco must disappear,” Catherine Vautrin said in an interview published by regional outlet Ouest-France.
Children have the “right to breathe clean air,” the minister added, adding that the limits will take effect on July 1 and that noncompliance with the harsh prohibition might result in a £114 punishment.
In order to stop kids from “smoking in front of their establishments,” cigarette smoking will also be prohibited in locations near schools.
Electronic cigarettes and cafe patios are exempt from the ban.
Similar to Vautrin’s announcement, the government’s National Anti-Tobacco Programme for 2023–2027 called for France to “rise to the challenge of a tobacco-free generation from 2032” and suggested a smoking ban.
However, anti-tobacco groups had expressed worry that the government was taking too long to put the rules into effect.
According to Vautrin, there are currently no intentions to impose higher taxes on cigarettes.
In France, it is estimated that tobacco-related difficulties claim the lives of about 75,000 individuals annually.
Six out of ten French people support the prohibition of smoking in public areas, per a recent opinion survey.
However, a research by the French Observatory of Drugs and Addictive Behaviours found that young people in France are smoking fewer cigarettes.
The Health Ministry is also working to “lower the permitted nicotine level” in electronic smoking devices, and is aiming to “reduce the number of flavours.”
In 2008, France outlawed smoking in places such as restaurants and nightclubs.
Last year, plans to outlaw smoking in parks and beaches were supposed to be put into action, but the necessary decree was never passed.
However, smoking is already prohibited in public areas in more than 1,500 French communities.
A smoking ban on terraces and outdoor nightclubs was also proposed today by France’s Spanish neighbours.
Mónica García, Spain’s health minister, acknowledged the newest action today. It was the result of an anti-smoking strategy that was agreed by autonomous communities at the National Health System’s Interterritorial Council. The plan aimed to increase the number of smoke-free zones throughout Spain.
The Ministry of Health in Spain is working on a bill that would make outdoor nightclubs, bus stations, patios, university campuses, and public swimming pools smoke-free.
Prior to being forwarded to Spain’s parliament, the Cortes Generales, the draft measure must be approved by the Council of Ministers.
France’s announcement coincides with Britain’s preparations to outlaw disposable vaporisers on June 1.
The Labour ban, which was first proposed by the Tory government in January, will take effect after research showed how widespread the addiction to fruit-flavored vapes is among young children.
A “new era of criminal enterprise” will result from the “woefully inadequate” number of new staff employed to police the ban on disposable vapes, according to MPs and campaigners.
In January, scientists found “huge and often alarming levels of dangerous metals” like lead, copper and cadmium in ten unregulated vape products already on the market.
However, experts have warned that millions of British people may resort to the underground market to satisfy their nicotine cravings as disposable vapes are set to be removed from the market in less than a week.
In the absence of vapes, there are worries that ex-smokers would turn back to cigarettes.
According to a recent survey, over two-thirds of vapers who use disposable devices would be willing to purchase illegal vapes if they were easily accessible.
The UK government last year intended to enact a strict legislation that would forbid smoking in bar gardens and forbid lighting up outside sports stadiums, on pavement, and on restaurant terraces.
However, in response to criticism from the hospitality sector, the government abandoned its intentions in November to outlaw smoking in public places like stadiums and beer gardens.
Wes Streeting, the secretary of state for health and social care, stated that lighting up outside of playgrounds, schools, and hospitals will continue to be prohibited.
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