Puff, Puff…Passé?
To protect its youngest citizens, France announced that it will ban smoking in all outdoor places nationwide, meaning you can hang out in French parks, the dream of smoking is about to smoke.
French Minister of Health and Family Catherine Vautrin told Ouest-France on Thursday that “in places with children, tobacco must disappear,” he added that the freedom of smoking “ends children’s right to breathe fresh air and begins.”
The French Ministry of Health said on Friday that the ban will come into effect on July 1, extending to areas near parks, bus stations and schools to “device tobacco from tobacco and limit its appeal.”
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Those who violate the ban will face a fine of up to €135 ($210).
Although France is often seen as a country with smoking patterns – it is not difficult to portray a country that people illuminate on Paris terraces or cobbled streets – the country has seen increasing restrictions on tobacco use in recent years.
Smoking bans have been in effect in places like playgrounds, airports, train stations, nightclubs, restaurants and workplaces. Similarly, hundreds of beaches throughout France have been out of smoking for several years.
That said, France's iconic cafe terraces and e-cigarettes are exempt from the new ban.
Vautrin said there is no decision yet to ban the sale of cigarettes to young people under the age of 18, but the country “does not rule out anything in the future.”
When asked about tobacco tax increases, she said she was not on the table now.
According to the French Centre for Drugs and Drugs Monitoring, 23% of the French population smokes daily.
France's National Committee on Anti-Smoking says more than 75,000 smokers die from tobacco-related diseases every year, accounting for 13% of all deaths.
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