The French government wants to turn the fight against tobacco after finding that consumption has increased. It therefore intends to ban disposable electronic cigarettes, which are a gateway to the habit among young people.
In an interview broadcast by RTL on Sunday, Prime Minister Élisabeth Borne justified the measure by saying that cigarettes give young people bad habits. “You could say that there is no nicotine, but it is a reflex and a gesture that young people get used to. That’s how they start smoking.”
Announcing the forthcoming presentation of a national anti-smoking plan, the prime minister lamented the increase in consumption, stressing that it causes “75,000 deaths a year”, a “huge” number.
He recalled that tobacco taxes, which have been raised this year, are unlikely to rise again any time soon, underlining, “That doesn’t mean we’re not very attentive” to consumption.
On April 30, a collective of doctors specializing in smoking and environmental activists launched a petition to ban disposable electronic cigarettes, which will enter the French market in 2021 because, in addition to health consequences, they pose a serious environmental problem. because they contain plastic materials and a lithium battery.
In another range, Borne again defended the general ban in public schools, in the name of secularism, on the use of abaya, a dress that covers women from head to toe and hides the shape of the body, worn by the Muslim community.
The minister underlined that all citizens, regardless of their religion, have their place in France. “There is a principle of secularism. And there is a law that prohibits the wearing of any symbol or dress by which a student expresses his religion. The law should apply to everyone,” he justified.
On Friday, French President Emmanuel Macron had already warned that the law would be applied.
Source: DN
