On the occasion of a interview granted to RTL, Elisabeth Borne confirmed on Sunday, September 3, that tobacco taxation would not increase in 2024, while the government is busy putting the finishing touches to its budgets for the coming year. However, she announced that the “puff” disposable electronic cigarettes, very fashionable among young people, would be ” shortly “ prohibited, as part of the anti-tobacco plan planned for the period 2023-2028.
“We have increased tobacco taxation this year and we do not plan to increase it next year”said the Prime Minister. “That does not mean that we are not very vigilant about tobacco consumption”nuanced Mme Borne, stating that “tobacco is 75,000 deaths a year”a number ” huge “ And “an important public health issue”.
In this sense, the government “will soon present a new national plan to fight against smoking, including the banning of disposable electronic cigarettes, the famous “puffs” which give young people bad habits”she clarified.
The “puff” already banned in several European countries
With its childish, sweet or fruity flavors (marshmallow, ice candy, chocolate-hazelnut, etc.), its brightly colored packaging reminiscent of sweets and its low price ranging from eight to 12 euros for 500 puffs, the “puff”, which exists under about twenty brands, worried because it targets teenagers, while the electronic cigarette is prohibited for minors.
Several European countries, such as Germany, Belgium and Ireland, have already initiated such a ban on these small tubes which arrived in France at the end of 2021, and which offer a certain number of puffs for a nicotine level of between 0mg/ml and 20mg/ml.
“We can be told that it’s not nicotine, but it’s a reflex, a gesture that young people get used to. Then that’s how they go to smoking and we have to stop that”pleaded Elisabeth Borne.
Former health minister François Braun, replaced in his post by Aurélien Rousseau during the reshuffle in July, had already mentioned an imminent ban on “puffs” in May. The issue is not only health, but also environmental. Disposable, the “puffs” are, in fact, made of plastic and contain a non-recyclable lithium battery.