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French parliament votes to ban disposable e-cigarettes / Photo: © AFP
NYSE - LSE
French parliament votes to ban disposable e-cigarettes
The French parliament on Thursday voted to ban single-use electronic cigarettes, considered to be gateways to tobacco addiction for teenagers and harmful to the environment.
The bill was approved by the French parliament with a final vote in the Senate upper house. France now becomes the second EU country after Belgium to have introduced such a ban.
Pre-filled disposable e-cigarettes, known as "puffs", are popular with young people, can have a high nicotine content, come in many flavours including apple, watermelon and cola and are cheap.
"It is a great victory in a two-pronged battle that we were fighting: an environmental battle against the polluting lithium batteries in these 'puffs', and a health battle for our schoolchildren," lawmaker Francesca Pasquini, the author of the bill, told AFP.
"A fine piece of cross-party work!" lawmaker Michel Lauzzana said on X.
Addressing President Emmanuel Macron, Lauzzana added: "We are now awaiting the promulgation of this law and its application throughout the country."
The legislation was earlier approved by the National Assembly lower house.
The measure is part of a wider government anti-smoking campaign.
Health authorities in France and Belgium say that chronic nicotine consumption is especially harmful to the adolescent brain and could encourage use of other drugs.
In December 2024, Belgium approved legislation to become the first EU country to ban disposable e-cigarettes.
The European Union aims to achieve a tobacco-free generation by 2040, reducing the 27-country bloc's smoking population from around 25 percent now to less than five percent of the total.
K. Petersen--BTZ
