Popular holiday destination. New beach ban comes into effect on July 1
Authors: PAP ; Prepared by KKR • Source: PAP • Published: June 14, 2025 19:01 • Updated: June 14, 2025 19:02
As of July 1, France will introduce a ban on smoking in public spaces, including parks, beaches, bus stops, sports facilities and school grounds. The new regulations aim to protect children from tobacco smoke. The ban does not apply to café gardens, for example.
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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