French health ministry extends smoking ban

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.

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.

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.”