Sweet tastes, colorful packaging, all ready to use for a relatively low price. The ‘puffs’, meaning “puff” in English, have made a place for themselves among tobacconists and certain traders, but also in the habits of many young people. According to a survey Alliance Against Tobacco, published in 2022, one in ten adolescents between 13 and 16 years old has already used this device. But these disposable electronic cigarettes could live their last moments in France. So when the puffs will they be banned in France?
Ban on puffs: a decision from the European Commission within six months
In November 2022, a bill aimed at banning puffs was tabled by Europe Ecologie Les Verts (EELV) deputies. On March 21, 2024, “deputies and senators, meeting in a joint committee, reached an agreement on a final text”can we read on the site governmental ViePublique.fr. Before being promulgated, however, it must be definitively voted on by the National Assembly and the Senate.
After this announcement, the Minister of Health Catherine Vautrin indicated that she understood “immediately the European Commission to confirm France’s decision“, in accordance with the European directive of April 3, 2014 called ‘tobacco’. The European Commission will then have six months to approve or reject this text.
Parliament has just reached an agreement on the ban on puffs.
I welcome this and immediately appeal to the European Commission to confirm France’s decision.
The fight against smoking must continue! pic.twitter.com/VeapWZlSdr
— Catherine Vautrin (@CaVautrin) March 21, 2024
Puffs: when will these electronic cigarettes be banned?
On November 28, 2023, Aurélien Rousseau, then Minister of Health and Prevention, presented the National Tobacco Control Program (PNLT) for 2023-2027. It plans, in its flagship measures, to“ban the sale of vaping products (puffs)”.
This ban has different objectives. First of all, that of the protection of citizens and particularly “the youngest” against “call products” which can lead to addiction to nicotine and tobacco. As Aurélien Rousseau clarified, “certain vaping products pursue aggressive marketing strategies targeted at younger people, which then lead more often to smoking. To prevent vaping from becoming a gateway to smoking, it is necessary to reduce its attractiveness among young people”. The government also aims to “limit the flavors authorized in vaping products”. The ban on these disposable electronic cigarettes is also part of the “preserve our environment from tobacco-related pollution”.
Anti-smoking plan: increase in the price of the package, smoke-free spaces… Other government measures
Among the axes presented in the anti-smoking plan presented by Aurélien Rousseau in November 2023, the government indicated that it wanted to increase the price of the package, which will rise to 12 euros in 2025, then reach 13 euros in 2027. “The price lever is what works best”it was specified.
Likewise, tobacco-free spaces should extend to “all beaches, public parks, forests, and the exterior surroundings of certain public places for collective use, especially schools”. This will aim, in particular, to “further reduce the place of tobacco in public spaces and the exposure of non-smokers – particularly the youngest – to passive smoking”.
Other points discussed, that of support, both for smokers, towards stopping smoking, but also for “different players in the tobacco economy, notably tobacconists in a necessary transition to transform their profession and reduce their dependence on tobacco-related income”.
As a reminder, tobacco kills 200 people per day in France, 75,000 each year, according to figures from Public Health France.
Sources
- Proposed law to ban single-use electronic vaping devices – ViePublique.fr
- National tobacco control plan – Ministry of Health and Prevention
