Ban on puffs: when will they no longer be authorized? : Current Woman Le MAG

Sweet tastes, colorful packaging, all ready to use for a relatively low price. ‘Puff’, 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 an Alliance Contre le Tabac survey, 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 will puffs be banned in France? We take stock.

The National Tobacco Control Program (PNLT) for 2023-2027, presented on November 28 by Aurélien Rousseau, Minister of Health and Prevention, provides, in its flagship measures,“ban the sale of vaping products (puffs)”. If no schedule was presented in the PNLT, the Minister of Health announced on RTL, in the program Le Grand Jury want to ban it “early 2024”.

Puff: towards a ban on these disposable cigarettes in early 2024

The ban on the sale of “puff” is therefore part of the National Tobacco Control Program (PNLT) for 2023-2027. 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 specified by the Ministry of Health and Prevention, “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”.

This is not the first time that the government has spoken out on the issue of banning these disposable cigarettes. Last September, Elisabeth Borne announced on RTL : “We will soon present a new national plan to combat smoking, including a ban on disposable electronic cigarettes (…) which give young people bad habits.” Already, last May, François Braun, then Minister of Health, said, at the microphone of France Inter “in favor of banning puffs”.

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, the government intends to increase the price of the package which will rise to 12 euros in 2025 then wait for 13 euros in 2027. “The price lever is what works best”specifies the minister in his editorial.

Likewise, tobacco-free spaces should extend to “all beaches, public parks, forests, and the exterior surroundings of certain public places for collective use, especially educational establishments”. 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 addressed by the minister, that of support, both for smokers, towards quitting 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.

Source : National tobacco control plan – Ministry of Health and Prevention

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