France bans smoking at parks and beaches : NPR

A woman smokes a cigarette in Kerlouan in Brittany in France on May 30. The country prohibits smoking in many public places.

Vincent Feray / Hans Lucas / AFP via Getty Images

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Vincent Feray / Hans Lucas / AFP via Getty Images

PARIS – A restrictive ban on outdoor smoking has entered into force in France, a country where the cultivation of coffee, which often includes a glass of wine and a cigarette, is a lifestyle.

Smokers are no longer allowed on Sunday to light up in public parks, in pools or on beaches, or “any children can be present,” said French Minister of Health and the Family Catherine Vautrin, who pressure for the ban. Offenders can incur fines ranging from the equivalent of around $ 150 to several hundred dollars.

“Tobacco must disappear from places where there are children,” said Vautrin. “A park, a beach, a school – these are places to play, learn and breathe. Not to smoke.”

Smoking is also prohibited for less than 30 feet from schools, libraries, bus stops and any other place where the government says that it could hurt minors. The Ministry of Health said that it would soon reveal signs to designate such areas. Vautrin called this another step “towards a tobacco -free generation”, which she said that France was aiming for 2032.

A survey in May has shown that 68% of French people are intended for more strict restrictions on public smoking in public, and even prohibitions in outdoor cafes and restaurants, which are exempt from the current prohibition.

The supporters understood Maya Martin and Joe Camara, aged 29, who were sitting in the grass in a Paris park, speaking and smoking the day before the ban.

“I think it’s a good thing because it’s not good to smoke with children,” said Martin. “This is why we sat down all the children, because otherwise we will not be a good example for them.”

The two said they had started smoking at university because of stress and because that was what everyone was doing. “Yeah, I started in the context of drinks and cafes in cafes,” said Camara.

The two said they planned to stop, although Martin said it could be difficult. “A glass of wine and a cigarette in a cafe, which is part of French culture,” she said. “It’s a mood and yes, maybe that’s why I started smoking.”

The French government prohibited smoking in restaurants and bars in 2008 and has increased the price of cigarettes over the years in order to reduce smoking. Today, a pack costs around $ 15. But it is the most restrictive external ban ever adopted.

Smoke rates have dropped in recent decades. About 23% of French adults smoke every day, according to government data from 2023. Although this is twice as high as smoking rate in American adults, which was 11.6% in 2022, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Diseases related to smoking and smoking kill 75,000 people in France each year and cost French society the equivalent of more than $ 180 billion per year, known as the OFDT (the French Observatory for Drugs and Addictive Trends) an observation group of French dependence.

The new law does not include electronic cigarettes. Critics say that this undertakes the measure, because electronic cigarette companies attract young people with different flavored vapes.

While the ban came into force a hot Sunday in grill, adults and children splashed in a lake in the Bordeaux village in Pont-et-Massène. Jeremy Brigon has watched from the beach. The 69 -year -old man no longer smokes, but he thinks that this law is excessive.

“It’s too much,” says Brigon. “People should not smoke near schools, but there is enough space on a beach so that people can smoke.”

Leila Guitry and Frank Chauvin inflated on their towels despite the ban. They say they didn’t know anything because they are too busy working and don’t have time to look at the news. The 22 and 25 years say that they have both smoked since they were 16 years old. And they are absolutely against measurement. “We are outside and there is enough room to smoke,” explains the Guerritie.

But what about influencing young people?

“It has always been like that,” she said. “Children see people smoking. My parents smoke and I smoke now. It’s like that.”