France To Ban Smoking On Beaches, Public Parks, Near Schools

Taxes on cigarettes will also be hiked, France Health Minister Aurelien Rousseau said.

Advertisement
Read Time: 2 mins
France is also planning to ban "puffs" (Representational)
Paris:

The French government said on Tuesday it would ban smoking on all the country's beaches, in public parks and forests and near schools.

"From now on, no-smoking areas will be the norm," Health Minister Aurelien Rousseau told reporters at a presentation of the government's anti-smoking programme.

He said there were already 7,200 tobacco-free areas in France but they had been mostly designated by local authorities, not the central government.

"We are now shifting the responsibility and establishing a principle which will become the rule," Rousseau said.

Taxes on cigarettes will be hiked, Rousseau also said, with a pack of 20, currently at around 11 euros ($12), rising to 12 euros by 2025 and 13 euros the following year.

The government was also planning to ban so-called "puffs", single-use disposable e-cigarettes that are particularly popular among young people, he said.

The government aims to create "the first tobacco-free generation by 2032", as President Emmanuel Macron had promised, Rousseau said.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Featured Video Of The Day
On Camera, Car Flips 8 Times, Passengers Escape Without Any Injury
Topics mentioned in this article