France Plans To Ban Disposable Electronic Cigarettes

THE French Prime Minister, Élisabeth Borne, announced this Sunday, September 3, that the French Government plans to ban disposable electronic cigarettes.

During an interview with the RTL radio station, Borne explained: ”We will soon present a new national anti-smoking plan that will prohibit in particular disposable electronic cigarettes, the so-called “puffs”, which create bad habits among young people’, reported elmundo.es today.

While ruling out further tax increases on cigarettes in 2024, Borne insisted that her administration was planning to crack down on smoking. It is a habit she said has been on the rise again in France, which was responsible for around: ‘75,000 deaths a year’. She described that as an ‘enormous’ figure and a ‘major public health challenge’.

Vapes are already banned in several European countries

Sold at a reasonable price of between €8 and €12, enough for 500 puffs, these devices have a sugary or fruity flavour and are sold in brightly coloured packaging reminiscent of sweets.

Vapes have raised concern because they are especially attractive to teenagers, despite the fact that the sale of electronic cigarettes is prohibited for underage people.

Several European countries including Ireland, Belgium and Germany have already banned single-use electronic cigarettes. The devices arrived in France at the end of 2021 and inhaling from them can have a nicotine concentration of between 0 and 20 mg/ml.

The US Food and Drug Administration, which regulates tobacco and vaping products, has also stated that it is taking action to combat the rise of flavoured disposable e-cigarettes.

Vapes encourage young people to take up smoking

‘They can tell us that it is not nicotine. But it is a reflex, a gesture that young people get used to. And then, that is how they move toward smoking, and we have to stop that’, Borne argued.

In addition to being sanitary, disposable electronic cigarettes also present an environmental challenge, as they are made of plastic and contain non-recyclable lithium batteries.