Can France, land of smoking and joie de vivre, really stub out its cigarette habit?

Some 27% of adults in France smoke at least once a day, according to the most recent data in this year’s World Health Organisation report. Photo / DepositPhotos

VAUCLUSE, France - In a country where the cigarette holds an iconic status on par with the croissant or a glass of red wine, a ban from today on smoking in all parks, beaches and bus stops has ignited a fiery debate.

It pits laissez-faire libertines against those worried by the serious health implications of France’s stubbornly high smoking rates.

The Health Ministry’s new measure - which stops short of an outright ban on public smoking, as some campaigners pushed for - caps a years-long effort by authorities to deter a younger generation from inheriting France’s national nicotine habit.

The French love of smoking extends beyond the stereotype spread by raspy-voiced film actors, photographs of Brigitte Bardot, and reports that singer Serge Gainsbourg chain-smoked five packs a day.

Some 27% of adults here smoke at least once a day, according to the most recent data in this year’s World Health Organisation report - placing the French among the heaviest smokers of any Western European nation (and about triple the share in Britain and the United States).

According to official estimates, the habit costs French society about US$176 billion ($290b) each year in costs associated with smoking, not to mention the 75,000 French people who die annually from its linked diseases.

With the new restrictions, authorities are hoping to make a dent in those figures by deepening the stigma attached to smoking and setting an example to French youths - with the stated goal of reaching a “smoke-free generation” by 2032, defined as less than 5% of 18-year-olds smoking daily.

“These bans explicitly target places where young people socialise daily, in order to help ‘denormalise’ tobacco and limit its appeal,” the Health Ministry advised. “Where there are children, tobacco must disappear.”

Smoking outside schools, gyms and sports facilities is also prohibited under the new rules, and those caught breaking the ban will face a US$160 fine.

In the town of Apt in southeastern France, at a park dusty and dry from this month’s blasting summer heat, news of the ban divided parents, teens, and workers on their lunch break.

“I will be smoking in this park no matter what happens,” said Minanui Monino, 31, who described the ban as “pointless” as she waited to collect her kids from a nearby school.

“The ban on the beach is good. But in the park? Nonsense.”

The difference, she argued, is that the park is “vivant” - full of life - and serves as a sort of meeting point for the town’s smokers and non-smokers alike.

Smoking should not be banned in such an important gathering place, she said.

“They say they care about the environment? Well, they could start by providing ashtrays in the park, that would make it cleaner. And don’t get me started about all the dog crap.”

Laurent Minel, 58, principal of the nearby Jean Gino primary school, is a staunch supporter of the ban.

“As a non-smoker, I think it’s extremely disrespectful to be smoking cigarettes in public,” he said, suggesting that officials extend the ban to encompass all smoking in outdoor places.

The rule might also save Minel some of the time he spends ushering away parents who stand smoking in the park as they wait at the school gates. “The kids are too young, and it sets a poor example. I tell them to move along,” he says.

“Even I’m in favour of this law, and I’m a smoker!” said Oliviere Garrido, 62, who sat at an empty table outside the nearby cafe that he runs, reasoning that it was time for the Government to act as he fumbled his way through a pack of cigarettes.

His partner, Pinna Sissi, 51, peeked her head out of the restaurant and chimed in.

“For health reasons, for environmental reasons, we need stricter rules,” she said.

“The reason smoking rates in France are so high is that the rules here have been lax for way too long.”

When asked how long they’ve been smoking for, the couple made startled eye contact with each other as they tried to calculate a figure. (The answer: 70 years between them.)

France’s largest and oldest anti-smoking organisation praised the Government’s strategy of denormalising smoking around younger people and welcomed the ban, despite the fact that it had lobbied to extend the ban to outdoor seating areas in restaurants.

“We are very in support of the measure, but we regret that it doesn’t go further to include cafe and restaurant terraces,” said Amélie Eschenbrenner, spokeswoman of France’s National Committee Against Smoking, in a phone interview.

“Eating and drinking on these terraces is a huge part of France’s culture,” she added, arguing that smoking should be banned in all places frequently visited by children and young people.

In an interview announcing the ban last month, French Health Minister Catherine Vautrin said outdoor seating areas had not been included because authorities were focused on the places where children are most likely to gather.

According to the ministry, the ban will also have a positive environmental impact by taking aim at the litter generated by smokers in the form of discarded cigarette butts.

Each year, officials calculate that French smokers toss aside up to 25,000 tonnes of cigarette butts - equivalent to more than twice the weight of the Eiffel Tower.

According to Ocean Conservancy, an environmental group that also welcomed the ban, cigarette butts are the No. 1 scourge of Europe’s beaches, leaching chemicals into sensitive marine ecosystems and shedding dangerous microplastic fibres.

Despite the mammoth task ahead, health officials have reason to believe that their push towards a smoke-free generation is working.

According to recent data, the proportion of young people who smoke - while still higher than elsewhere - is slipping.

In 2022, the most recent year for which data was available, about 16% of French 17-year-olds said that they smoked daily, compared with 25% who responded to the same survey in 2017.

“It’s a huge source of optimism for us,” said Eschenbrenner, who attributes the sharp drop in smoking among younger people to an array of government measures in recent years that include heavier taxation on smoking products and the introduction of mandatory neutral packaging.

But Eschenbrenner acknowledges that there’s another reason, too, which somewhat clouds France’s vision of a smoke-free future: vapes, which aren’t included in the daily smoking statistics.

“I’m in favour of the smoking ban. Cigarettes are bad for you,” said Leilys Kouider, 18, in an interview in Apt’s park, speaking through the watermelon-scented cloud of a vape.

Also known as an electronic cigarette, a vape is a battery-powered device that heats up nicotine-infused liquid into a vapour to be inhaled.

They are generally considered less harmful than traditional cigarettes but still carry health risks.

Like many other French teenagers, Kouider has turned to them as an alternative to smoking - a nicotine habit that has skyrocketed in popularity among younger people in recent years, according to French government statistics.

“It’s easy. From the age of 15, pretty much any supermarket will sell you a vape,” she explained, suggesting that she chose them as a less harmful alternative to cigarettes.

The ban makes no mention of vapes, but authorities are concerned about the meteoric rise in their use among young people.

Next year, France’s health minister wants to reduce the amount of nicotine carried in vapes and limit their number of flavours.