Absolute ban on the beach. Strict regulations are to protect children

The new regulations were announced on Thursday evening by Health Minister Catherine Vautrin.

- Where there are children, tobacco should disappear - she declared. Such bans are already in force in some municipalities, but from July they will apply to the entire country.

As the minister told the daily Ouest-France, the ban does not apply to electronic cigarettes "for now".

Smoking statistics in France are currently on a downward trend. In 2023, 15.6% of young people under the age of 17 smoked every day. " The number of smokers among young people in this age group has fallen by half in a decade, " the minister stressed.

However, "one tenth of all deaths every year are related to tobacco," she noted.

- Smoking kills 75 thousand people in France (annually - PAP). That's over 200 deaths a day. It is the first cause of death that can be avoided," she stressed.

- Lung cancer is a source of terrible suffering. Life has no price, but (treatment - PAP) cancer costs 150 billion euros per year, which is not trivial when you think about the financial situation of our social model - added Vautrin.

She added that cigarettes contribute to environmental pollution.

She said her goal was for children born in France in 2025 "to be the first tobacco-free generation."

- Smokers' freedom ends where children's right to breathe clean air begins - she added.

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