What is considered by many a quintessential accessory in France is being phased out by the government to protect public health.
A new plan from France’s health minister would ban smoking on beaches, in public parks, other public areas and forests, euronews reports.
The ban, as part of the National Tobacco Control Program, is slated to help the country meet its goal of creating a tobacco-free generation by 2032.
How will France’s smoking ban contribute to public health?
According to the country’s health minister, Aurélien Rousseau, cigarettes cause 75,000 deaths every year, the highest of any cause of preventable death.
“In the fight against this public health scourge, we have won battles, thanks to proactive public health policies. This is most evident among young people, with a clear drop in smoking observed among 17-year-olds between 2017 and 2022,” Rousseau said in a statement.
Some of this success, she added, comes down to price increases of cigarettes, which will occur again under the new plan, first to 12 euros in 2025 and then to 13 euros in 2027.
“The price lever is what works best,” Rousseau said. “The WHO and all independent studies on this subject have established this, with scientific consensus at the global level... In terms of health and prevention, when it is the lives of our fellow citizens that are at stake, it is the only compass that must guide us.”
In order to best protect children, tobacco-free zones will extend beyond parks and beaches to schools and areas on the periphery of some other public spaces.
Are smoke restrictions effective?
“Cigarette smoking is identified as one the greatest public health disasters of the 20th century, with over 20 million attributable deaths,” per the National Library of Medicine. “The World Health Organization estimates that six million people die every year from tobacco-related diseases; 600,000 from the effects of passive smoking.”
The National Library of Medicine adds that tobacco is the second-leading cause of death internationally.
With increasing awareness of these statistics, it has brought worldwide calls for a reduction in smoking in the form of smoking and tobacco bans.
According to a 2010 study in the National Library of Medicine, “A portion of the overall decline in smoking prevalence and intensity over the past 25 years can be attributed to general tobacco-control interventions (price increases and stronger antismoking culture).”
The study added that the WHO Report on the Global Tobacco Epidemic, 2008 —The MPOWER Package touted taxation, advertising bans, smoke-free policies and enforcement of existing bans as effective measures.
In alignment with France’s new plan, the WHO also emphasized the efficacy of price hikes.
The WHO postulated a 25% decrease in tobacco deaths around the world with a 70% increase in tobacco product prices.
The 2010 study provides evidence of the efficacy of tobacco bans in European countries including Sweden, France, England, the Netherlands, Belgium and Ireland. It reveals that comprehensive smoke-free policies in Ireland led to a 48% reduction in workplace smoking, 82% reduction in smoking at restaurants and a whopping 93% reduction in smoking at bars and pubs.
It referenced another 2008 study that found people in 18 European countries quit smoking at higher rates with tobacco-control policies in place.
A 2016 study published in the Cochrane Library echoed these sentiments.
It also found that, “countries who imposed smoking bans found their populations benefited from reduced exposure to passive smoke, specifically cardiovascular disease.”
Which countries have banned smoking?
France isn’t the only country seeking a healthier, tobacco-free generation. Ireland started the trend in 2004 with a national indoor smoking ban, according to the National Library of Medicine.
According to the BBC, anti-smoking measures are in place in the U.K., Mexico, Portugal, Uruguay, Paraguay, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, the Netherlands, Romania and Spain, among others.
Anti-smoking laws cover all of South America, with Uruguay becoming “the first country in the region to adopt a “100% smoke-free national policy” in 2006, the BBC reported.
Similarly to France, Portugal is working towards a smoke-free generation, in this case by 2040. The country hopes to curb tobacco use through a ban on the sale of tobacco products in bars, cafes and gas stations.