France plans to ban disposable e-cigarettes in bid to curb smoking habit

France will ban disposable electronic cigarettes or vapes as a part of the country’s plan to combat smoking and fight tobacco use, French Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne said on broadcaster RTL, on Sunday (September 3). This comes months after the World Health Organization (WHO) said that only four countries have adopted all the anti-tobacco measures to fight the “deadly scourge” of smoking.

What is the French government’s plan?

Speaking to the radio station RTL, the French PM said that the government would “soon present a new national plan to fight against smoking with, in particular, the prohibition of disposable electronic cigarettes, the famous ‘puffs’ which give bad habits to young people,” as quoted by the Guardian.

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“It’s an important public health issue,” said Borne, adding that the government is in the midst of drawing up the plans to fight tobacco use that she said was responsible for 75,000 deaths a year in France. However, the plan does not include raising the taxes on tobacco next year after an increase this year.

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Borne also noted that this does not mean that “they are not vigilant about tobacco consumption” but said that her main concern is about vapes or “puffs” which she said are a gateway to smoking.

She expressed her concerns about flavoured cigarettes like marshmallow and bubblegum reminiscent of childhood sweets and priced at eight euros ($8.6) to 12 euros ($13) for 500 “puffs” targeting teenagers, as per the Guardian.

Use of vapes in France

Recent reports have noted that the use of vapes, particularly among teenagers in the European Union has risen.

More than half of 17-year-olds in France said that they have tried a vape, according to a report by the French Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (OFDT) citing data from a 2022 ESCAPAD survey.

In 2021, French President Emmanuel Macron set out his ambitious plan to tackle tobacco and alcohol consumption and vowed more smoking-free areas and aiming to make all 20-year-olds tobacco-free by 2030.

WHO report about smoking

A report by the United Nations health agency, published in July, noted that only four countries – Brazil, Mauritius, the Netherlands and Turkey – have adopted all the anti-tobacco measures recommended and urged other nations to ramp up measures to reduce tobacco use.

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Some of these measures include enforcing advertising bans, plastering health warnings on cigarette packages, raising tobacco taxes and providing assistance to those who want to quit.

According to the WHO, 5.6 billion people (71 per cent) of the world’s population were now protected by at least one tobacco control measure. “Slowly but surely, more and more people are being protected from the harms of tobacco,” said WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.

(With inputs from agencies)

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