France to ban smoking in parks, beaches, near schools

Yahoo

6 hours ago

France has introduced a new smoking ban to curb tobacco use, a long-standing issue in the country.
In the coming days, smoking will be banned in all French parks and sports venues, at beaches and bus stops, in a perimeter around all schools and anywhere children could gather in public.
In a country where smoking has for generations been glamorised in cinema and intertwined with the national image, government crackdowns on tobacco use have met resistance.
"In France, we still have this mindset of saying, 'this is a law that restricts freedom'," Philippe Bergerot, president of the French League Against Cancer, told the Associated Press.
The ban aims "to promote what we call denormalisation. In people's minds, smoking is normal," he said.
"We aren't banning smoking; we are banning smoking in certain places where it could potentially affect people's health and ... young people."
À partir de ce dimanche, de nouveaux espaces sans tabac seront officiellement instaurés partout en France. 🚭Fumer sera désormais interdit dans plusieurs lieux extérieurs très fréquentés par les jeunes :– les parcs et jardins publics ;– les plages pendant la saison balnéaire… pic.twitter.com/zqTf2JvK0y
— Catherine Vautrin (@CaVautrin) June 28, 2025
It has been illegal to smoke in restaurants, bars and public buildings since a series of bans in 2007 and 2008.
Ever-higher taxes mean a pack now costs upwards of 12 euros ($A22).
Yet more than 30 per cent of French adults still smoke cigarettes, most of them daily, one of the higher rates in Europe and globally.
The Health Ministry is particularly concerned that tobacco remains popular among young people, citing public health statistics showing that 15 per cent of 17-year-olds smoke.
Black market cigarette trading is common.
More than 200 people in France die each day of tobacco-related illness, Health Minister Catherine Vautrin said in a statement on Saturday - which adds up to 75,000 deaths per year.
In a Paris park as the ban loomed, views were mixed.
Parisian Natacha Uzan welcomed the end of smoking in restaurants.
But she said: '"Now outside, in parks, I find it becoming a bit repressive".
The broader ban is a "good thing" for Anabelle Cermell, mother of a three-month-old boy.
"I tell myself, oh, it's really not ideal for him but there's not much I can do about it, or I would have to ... not take the bus, not go to parks."
The government said last month that the new ban would take effect on July 1.
The official decree introducing the ban was published on Saturday, and a health minister's statement said that a government order specifying the perimeters set by the ban would be published in the coming days.
Electronic cigarettes are exempt from the new ban.
Other European countries have gone farther: the United Kingdom and Sweden have tightened smoking regulations in public spaces.
Spain is extending its smoking ban to café and restaurant terraces, which are exempt from France's new ban.