Strong measures. During a press conference held this Tuesday morning, the Minister of Health, Aurélien Rousseau, presented the National Tobacco Control Program (PNLT) 2023-2027 which is based on two main pillars, “the strengthening of taxation and bans on tobacco.
Regarding the first point, the minister announced an increase in the price of a pack of cigarettes with a minimum price that will progressively rise to 13 euros during 2026, with a first step to 12 euros in 2025. Starting in January 2024, the The price of a pack should increase, this time under the effect of inflation, from 40 to 50 cents.
“Vaping machines marketed to younger people”
Regarding the second point, Aurélien Rousseau also announced the generalization of tobacco-free spaces, including beaches, public parks, forests and around certain public places, in particular schools. Guest a few minutes later on BFMTV, the Minister of Health justified his choice.
“The recreational and leisure side of cigarettes must disappear,” he began. Thus, the ban on puffs, “those vaporizers marketed to young people,” was also confirmed.
“Anything that contributes to making a fun object, that’s what we want to get away from,” he insisted again.
With its childish, sweet or fruity flavors, its brightly colored packaging and its low price, the puff, which exists under twenty brands, is worrying because it is aimed at teenagers and constitutes a gateway to smoking.
The ban will be carried out “thanks to a transpartisan bill”, examined in committee in the National Assembly this Tuesday afternoon and in the chamber on December 4.
“We are mobilizing to support the French”
Aurélien Rousseau assured that the objective of these new measures is not to “tell smokers that they are to blame, make them feel guilty or stigmatize them.”
“2024 must be a collective year, in which we mobilize to support French people who want to stop smoking, to give up tobacco. We have systems that work.”
To help smokers quit, the new “My Prevention Assessment” system, which the government wants to introduce at key ages of life, “will be an opportunity to systematize the detection of smoking,” according to the ministry. Pharmacists can now prescribe nicotine replacement treatments.
Source: BFM TV
