To Milan, the Dolce Vita is now accompanied by clean air. Since the New Year, it has been forbidden to smoke outside if a person is less than ten meters away. Which, in a city as dense as the fashion capital, amounts to an almost total ban on tobacco in public spaces.
Would such a law be possible in France, where cigarettes kill 66,000 people each year? “It would be an effective measure,” argues Yves Martinet, president of the National Committee Against Smoking (CNCT) and professor emeritus of pulmonology. “The more we reduce the space where smoking is permitted, the more the act becomes less common.” Natacha, 33 years old and an inveterate smoker since high school, admits: “It’s when you go out in the rain to smoke your cigarette in a restaurant that you understand that you may have an addiction problem.”
Reduction in smoking space in France
Same favorable opinion for Loïc Josseran, doctor and public health researcher, president of the Alliance against tobacco: “We are entering into a logic of de-normalization. By removing tobacco consumption from the landscape, we reduce the incentive for people to start, which remains the most effective measure. And for those who already consume, the effect is also beneficial: the less opportunity we have to smoke, the less we smoke.”
In the 2000s, France introduced a series of measures to reduce the country’s smokable space. In December 2004, smoking became prohibited on trains. Since February 1, 2007, smoking has been prohibited in all public places, workplaces and schools. From 2008, the law also covers restaurants, cafes, bars, hotels and nightclubs. Since November 2023, the ban has extended to all green spaces, including beaches.
Laws with studied and demonstrated benefits
The benefits have been studied in many countries, supports Yves Martinet. “Following laws similar to that of 2007-2008 in France, a 15% reduction in heart attacks on average has been demonstrated.” More specifically, in Scotland, “a reduction in emergency admissions of children for severe asthma has been noted”.
According to a study by Public Health Francebefore the 2007 law, 41.1% of non-smokers declared that it was “strictly prohibited” to smoke at home. Five years later, they were 61%. The effect is similar among smokers, going from 23% in 2006 to 39.5% in 2012 not tolerating smoking at home. Natacha, another confession? “Even when I’m alone at home, I smoke at the window now.” The opportunity for Yves Martinet to rejoice: “These measures demonstrate their effectiveness: by making the act of smoking more rare, we make it less socially tolerated in all places, even those which are not included in the laws “.
A sensitive subject in France
Another victory, these laws were quickly socially accepted. According to the same study, the share of smokers defending the idea of banning cigarettes in bars increased from 29.6% before the law to 78.1% in 2012, five years after its application. Same surge for the ban in the workplace (from 42.3% to 72.5%). Michael Rochoy, general practitioner, is delighted: “Today, no one imagines going back to the various Evin Laws, or would come to defend the idea that we can smoke again at school”.
But when it comes to imagining the ban extending throughout the country, the subject becomes politically sensitive again. A third of French people smoke – compared to 20% of Italians – “which would make such a measure extremely unpopular”, maintains Michael Rochoy. Certainly, the previous laws were ultimately quickly accepted, but at the time of their announcement, “they were little appreciated by smokers. The current government has such a lack of popularity that I can’t imagine them launching such a law, the political moment is bad.” Natacha concedes: “I know that it would be a good thing in absolute terms, but I admit that it would really piss me off. Especially with this government.”
The price, the “historic” solution in France
What’s more, “when we see the lack of government support for Dry January, we understand that the fight against addictions is not the priority”, laughs the general practitioner. Loïc Josseran sees another major obstacle: the tobacco and tobacconist lobby, “very powerful in France, and which always seeks to slow down policies against cigarettes”.
Historically, the fight against tobacco in France is mainly carried out with one lever: price. The price of packages increased again on January 1, systematically exceeding 12 euros. A package which had already experienced three price increases in 2024. Inflation should not stop, since the law plans to increase all packages to a minimum of 13 euros by 2027. That is to say a price twice as high as that practiced in Italy. “The lever undoubtedly the most effective,” admits Yves Martinet, “but which does not prevent us from applying at the same time the same rule as in Milan. The anti-tobacco levers can obviously be combined, and depending onWorld Health Organizationthey are never even as effective as when they are deployed at the same time.”
A truly effective policy?
Much of the world is waging war against tobacco. In the United Kingdom, according to a bill currently being adopted, people born after 2009 will never be able to legally buy cigarettes. “Good luck seeing such a project in France,” says Loic Josseran. Before being more positive: “Of course, a third of French people still smoke, but consumption among the younger generations is completely collapsing,” smiles the doctor. In 2000, 41% of 17-year-olds smoked daily. They were only 30% in 2010, and 16% in 2022, according to the French Observatory of Drugs and Addictive Tendencies. Even if the assessment remains to be qualified, continues Loic Josseran: “Today, there are many fewer pure smokers but other practices have become widespread: puff, vaping, nicotine tablets… Smoking is deployed differently”.
Michael Rochoy is optimistic: “The Milanese law is in line with history and the evolution of the world. It will probably not be applied in France this year, but will end up being decreed sooner or later. »
Source: www.20minutes.fr
