Latest news with #tobaccofree
Times
12-07-2025
- Politics
- Times
The biggest problem with Macron's new smoking ban: the French
With modest fanfare, one of the world's most tobacco-addicted nations introduced one of the world's boldest smoking bans this month. In France it is now illegal to smoke on beaches, in parks, at bus stops, near schools and at the entrances to libraries and sports centres. President Macron's stated goal is to produce a tobacco-free generation by 2032 and he is doing everything he can to stamp out public smoking in any place where children might be present. There is, however, one factor that his government appears to have overlooked: the French. This is a country with a historic disregard for authority where a third of working-age adults still smoke, just under a quarter of them every day. Casual smoking is creeping up and more French women smoke now than 50 years ago. In western Europe, cigarettes have become an increasingly rare sight, but between the Channel and the Mediterranean smoking remains a fact of life. At least five French mayors went on record within days of the ban to say it was unenforceable. An afternoon at a packed beach in the south of France last week showed why. Smokers dotted the Plage des Catalans in Marseille, while greater numbers simply avoided the ban by smoking on its the fringes: from rocks, café terraces opposite the beach and a stretch of concrete beside the loos. Everyone was aware of the new rule, the first of its kind in Europe. No one, including the police, seemed to know exactly what it meant. A loudspeaker boomed out a clear instruction, in French and then English: 'For those of you who want to smoke, you have to go on the concrete side of the beach.' Confusion reigned. When retired brasserie owner Léa Abzar, 67, sat smoking on the concrete with her pet chihuahua, police arrived to tell her she had to go somewhere else. 'They told me that even up there you're not allowed,' she said, pointing to the promenade and street above the beach. 'Which means these days we're allowed to smoke at home, and that's it.' (The gendarmes seemed to be misinformed about this: there is nothing in the new law that bans smoking on pavements or highways.) 'It won't decrease anything at all,' she added, of the new restrictions on smoking. 'I can guarantee you. Even diseases don't make it decrease. I find it a shame that these people who lead us waste time making these kinds of laws when there are much more important things to deal with.' Naïm Bessah, a lifeguard, told me that in 20 minutes on patrol he had stopped 'three or four' people smoking on the actual beach. Smoking had already been banned on Marseille's beaches anyway, he said, though people 'didn't respect it'. He added: 'Since the new ban, if we see it, we stop people. But it's not our job.' His heart really didn't seem to be in it. Two minutes later I spotted him near the men's loos with his yellow lifeguard's T-shirt off, cigarette in hand. Under the new law fines for infractions rise from €135 (£117) to €750 for repeat offenders, but I saw no fines at all being imposed by police on the beach. The closest shave was when a policeman dashed off towards a woman on the sand fiddling with a suspicious-looking object: a suspected cannabis joint. The woman claimed it was a cigarette and that she wasn't going to smoke it there. The police moved on. Aurore Faust, 46, a carer from Marseille, stood with a cigarette just off the sand near steps to the road. She has been smoking for 20 years, is now on four or five a day and has no plans to quit. 'We will not stop, never,' she said — although she could see the merits of the beach ban because it will protect children. Campaigners say the restrictions need to go further. François Torpart, from the National Committee Against Smoking, said it had pushed for café terraces to be included, a move that surveys show a majority of French people would actually support. Torpart said in time the current 'first step' would make a difference. He cited the ban on smoking in restaurants and public transport in 2007, a year when Britain did the same. 'There were some of the same reservations, the same hesitations, such as how to enforce the regulations, [people saying] we cannot have the police intervene everywhere, etc,' he said. 'But the fact is that it worked well.' In France it proved less effective than in other countries, though. Britain is currently bringing in some of the strictest anti-smoking rules in the world, in the form of Sir Keir Starmer's Tobacco and Vapes Bill now going through the Lords. It will ban children born since January 1, 2009, from ever buying cigarettes. It also includes a ban on smoking outside schools, hospitals and playgrounds, similar to the French law, although beaches are not included. As it stands, however, France has all the same restrictions as Britain, but almost three times the number of smokers. France is now joining the ranks of the few countries to have nationwide bans on smoking in certain outdoor public spaces. Mexico is one (beaches and parks), Singapore another (parks, bus stops, playgrounds and other locations). Finland bans smoking in areas primarily used by minors, such as daycare facilities and schools. Many Australian states and Canadian provinces have bans at beaches (Bondi Beach is smoke-free). In Spain and Italy, western Europe's next most smoker-full countries, lots of local councils have banned smoking on beaches. Some French ones already had, too. Since the new ban came into force, it has been criticised by several local elected mayors, who in France have powers over policing. Dominique Cap, mayor of Plougastel-Daoulas, a peninsula community in Brittany, called the ban an 'absurd and very Parisian' decision. In Marseille too, it looked that way, at least for now. 'If people want to smoke, they smoke,' said Remi Cozzolino from behind the counter of his tobacconist-newsagent facing the sea in front of Plage des Catalans. Had the ban affected business? 'Not at all.'
CBC
02-07-2025
- Health
- CBC
France has banned smoking in parks, beaches and bus stops — but not restaurant patios
Depending on who you ask, France's decision to exclude restaurant patios and terraces from its outdoor smoking ban is either a gross oversight, or a necessary preservation of French culture and liberty. On Saturday, the country enacted a new ban on outdoor smoking at parks, sports venues, beaches, bus stops and outside schools, with fines of between 90 and 135 euros ($144 to $216 Cdn). The government aims to curb cigarette use anywhere children gather in public, in line with President Emmanuel Macron's goal of ushering in the country's first "tobacco-free generation" by 2032. Anti-smoking advocates welcomed the new rules, but derided the exclusion of restaurant and cafe patios and terraces, places they say are popular with families. "These places regularly expose children to second-hand smoke and contribute precisely to the normalization of tobacco consumption in public spaces," the National Committee Against Smoking said in a statement. But those who work in the food and drinks industry have vowed to do everything they can to keep the ban from reaching their outdoor tables. "We really want to protect these last spaces of liberty, of freedom, where people — I mean smokers and non-smokers — are able to enjoy together a friendly and free atmosphere with a lot of pleasure," Franck Trouet, executive director of hospitality association Hotels and Restaurants of France, told As It Happens host Nil Köksal. "It is one of the last spaces in France where you can have a cohabitation between smokers and non-smokers, and people are asking for that." The goal is 'denormalization' Philippe Bergerot, president of the French League Against Cancer, says the new restrictions are designed to promote the "denormalization" of smoking. That's a huge challenge in a country where smoking is baked into the culture, romanticized in the media and seen to many as a symbol of liberty. "In people's minds, smoking is normal," Bergerot said. "In France, we still have this mindset of saying, 'This is a law that restricts freedom.'" But Health Minister Catherine Vautrin says the freedom to smoke "ends where children's right to breathe fresh air begins." While second-hand smoke in enclosed spaces poses a greater risk, a number of studies have linked second-hand smoke in outdoor spaces to increased nicotine exposure and other negative health effects. "Where there are children, tobacco must disappear," Vautrin told Ouest-France ahead of the ban. Smoking has been declining in France steadily over the last decade, according to government data. It's been illegal to smoke inside restaurants, bars and public buildings since a series of bans in 2007 and 2008, and taxes on cigarettes have risen sharply over the years. But more than 30 per cent of French adults still smoke cigarettes, most of them daily. That's one of the higher rates in Europe and globally. The Health Ministry says more than 200 people in France die each day of tobacco-related illness, adding up to 75,000 deaths a year. The ministry says it's particularly concerned that tobacco remains popular among young people, citing public health statistics showing that 15 per cent of 17-year-olds smoke. Parisians divided French residents, meanwhile, remain divided. Parisian Natacha Uzan said she welcomed the end of smoking in restaurants, but she believes the new rules have gone too far. "Now outside, in parks, I find it becoming a bit repressive," she said. Parisian Anabelle Cermell, on the other hand, welcomed the rules, which she says will protect her three-year-old son. "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," she said. Trouet worries that banning cigarettes in parks and beaches is just the first step, and that terraces and patios will be targeted next. If that happens, he says customers who smoke will be forced onto the streets, causing a nuisance for passersby and littering the city. Still, he acknowledged that some non-smoking customers are irritated by the second-hand smoke on patios and terraces. "I see that sometimes, and I always answer the same thing: It belongs to the owner of the cafe or the restaurant to decide if he wants to ban smoking on his terrace. He has the right," Trouet said. "It is a question of freedom, of liberty, as we say in France."
CNN
01-07-2025
- Health
- CNN
Hear what residents think of new French smoking ban
France has become the first European country to ban smoking on all beaches and in parks nationwide. The sweeping measure is part of President Emmanuel Macron's pledge to create 'the first tobacco-free generation' by 2032, but with 23% of the adult population still smoking daily, according to the French national public health agency, not all citizens are supportive of the measures. CNN's Saskya Vandoorne reports.
CNN
01-07-2025
- Health
- CNN
Hear what residents think of new French smoking ban
France has become the first European country to ban smoking on all beaches and in parks nationwide. The sweeping measure is part of President Emmanuel Macron's pledge to create 'the first tobacco-free generation' by 2032, but with 23% of the adult population still smoking daily, according to the French national public health agency, not all citizens are supportive of the measures. CNN's Saskya Vandoorne reports.
Daily Mail
30-06-2025
- General
- Daily Mail
Traveller left shocked after flight attendant demands plane passenger gets rid of popular item
A plane passenger left social media users shocked after revealing they were instructed by a flight attendant to 'spit out' a popular product used by a growing number of adults. In a post uploaded to the popular Reddit community, r/Delta, the passenger detailed their exchange on a Delta flight, adding that he complied 'right away' in getting rid of the item. The US-based flyer, who goes by u/Aquahammer, said that the item in question was a tobacco-free nicotine pouch. Marketed as a smoke-free alternative to traditional products, nicotine pouches are designed to be placed between the gum and lip, where nicotine is absorbed into the bloodstream. Brands such as ZYN, VELO, Nordic Spirit and Rogue have gained popularity in recent years, with roughly 1.1 per cent of British adults currently using nicotine pouches, while 6 per cent have tried them, according to Action on Smoking and Health. In the Reddit post, the passenger shared: 'Got told to spit my Zyn out on a flight, I really didn't know that was a thing? Delta flight, first class (not that that matters).' The person added: 'They brought a cup out and asked me to spit my zyn out. They said it was because it was a tobacco product. I didn't put up a fight and complied right away. Was just wondering if this was an FAA thing I didn't know about?' The post has since amassed over 80 comments as fellow Redditors shared their thoughts about using nicotine pouches during flights. One person wrote: 'Delta policy bans "smokeless tobacco" products. Zyn is of course not a smokeless tobacco product (no tobacco), but I wouldn't want to get pedantic with a flight attendant. So just be more sneaky about it next time.' However, another challenged: 'It's rather confusing. What constitutes a "smokeless product"? Are they implying smokeless tobacco products? Zyn, for instance, is not a tobacco product at all - its nicotine is synthetically derived. 'I also wonder why nicotine pouches are not allowed on flights. I understand chewing tobacco since you need to dispose of it in an unhygienic way. But nicotine pouches are unobtrusive, no less hygienic than gum, don't produce vapors or other noticeable smells...' A third contributor hit back: 'Tobacco or not, does it cause you to spit into a bottle or cup that could spill or be left stuffed in the seat pocket that someone else has to clean up? Then I'd say it doesn't matter what you call it.' One person warned the passenger: 'It's allowed but be discreet, I see many people using them on flights myself included and as long as you're not doing it right in front of an FA you're fine. However, one plane passenger shared: 'I had a FA confirm that Zyns are not allowed which is crazy. I was in Delta one and she told me they aren't allowed but she doesn't care. I think she just wanted me to hide it from the other FAs. I don't get it though.' A United Airlines flyer added: 'I was on a United flight a few days ago and the shopping/menu magazine in the seatback actually had a Zyn add in it. It said something like "Flight ready".' It comes after another plane passenger reignited an etiquette debate about wearing shoes and socks on flights in 2024. Sharing their thoughts on a post to Reddit, the user - who posted under MilitaryBaker - sparked a fierce debate over the matter. Posting to the Unpopular Opinion subreddit, the disgruntled flyer wrote: 'You should not be allowed to take off your shoes or socks on a plane.' 'Planes are already one of the most horribly smelling places you can be,' the user wrote. They went on to acknowledge that although it is more 'comfortable,' some people's feet are 'literally intolerable.'
