Image: GETTY IMAGES.
France endorses legislation to outlaw disposable e-cigarettes.
The French parliament has taken a stand on health and environmental issues by overwhelmingly banning single-use electronic cigarettes, or “puffs” as they are called locally.
It won’t become legislation unless the Senate of France supports it and the EU Commission gives its approval.
The administration has stated its goal of having the ban in place by September 2024, should both houses pass the measure.
The United Kingdom, Ireland, and Germany are among the numerous European nations contemplating such actions.
Disposable vape pens sold by French tobacconists cost about €9 (£7.70), which is less than the price of a pack of twenty cigarettes. Their claimed 600 puffs are almost the same as 40 cigarettes.
Prime Minister Élisabeth Borne, who frequently puffs on an e-cigarette in parliament, announced the move in September, saying it was part of a broader government effort to combat smoking.
The draught rule was filed in November last year by deputy Francesca Pasquini. “They’re ridiculously cheap, the fruity and sugary flavors are attractive, and their small size makes them easy to hide from parents,” Pasquini said.
Protesters claim that manufacturers, with numerous operations in China, are intentionally courting teens with their use of vivid colors and a variety of sweet shop tastes, such as ice candy, watermelon, marshmallow, chocolate and hazelnut, and so on.
Fifteen percent of French adolescents have tried “puffs” at least once, according to the Alliance Against Tobacco (ACT) last month. The average age of initiation is estimated to be eleven or twelve years old.
French PM Élisabeth Borne, who announced the plan to ban disposable e-cigarettes, is known to vape herself – even in parliament. Image: GETTY IMGES.
The potential harm that disposable e-cigarettes do to the environment is another source of worry. More than one million gadgets are discarded weekly in the UK, according to a research conducted last year by the environmental charity Material Focus.
The “environmental calamity” that is electronic cigarettes was described by Health Minister Aurélien Rousseau.
“It’s an environmental plague,” a coalition of French physicians and ecologists proclaimed in an article published in Le Monde newspaper earlier this year.
The disposable e-cigarettes were described as having a plastic construction, a non-removable battery containing around 0.15g of lithium, nicotine salts, and trace amounts of heavy metals.
Vaping is healthier for your health than smoking, but the vapor you inhale still contains trace levels of nicotine and other cigarette toxins. It is too soon to determine how dangerous vaping is, according to experts.