Eliminating tobacco in France: utopia or reality?

And if the French really wanted to put an end to cigarettes, or at least make sure to protect the younger generations from the harmful effects of tobacco? More than a sweet dream, this is what emerges from a survey carried out by BVA for the ACT-Alliance against tobacco.

tobacco-free generation

Nearly nine out of ten French people (86%) say they are in favor of a tobacco-free generation from 2030, including 47% who even say they are very favorable to this initiative. To better understand, it would be for the Alpha generation and the following ones, namely the youngest born from the beginning of the 2010s, not to have the possibility of succumbing to the harmful effects of tobacco, and this in all its forms.

In the same vein, nearly three quarters of French people (73%) want to end the sale of tobacco for future generations. This would once again concern young French people born in the 2010s. The figure even climbs to 76% for women. And interestingly, more than half of smokers surveyed (55%) are also convinced by this measure.

Pending its implementation, more than seven out of ten French people (71%) would like to see more smoke-free outdoor public spaces. A figure that reaches 80% among the youngest, namely 15-34 years, and which still stands at 50% among smokers. Parents are particularly concerned about tobacco use among their children (78%), especially among 35-49 year olds (87%).

Teenagers also in favor of this measure

Divided into two parts, this survey also looked at the voice of young people aged 10 to 17. And the conclusion is without appeal!

• They too do not wish to be tempted by tobacco in the years to come. Nearly nine out of ten (88%) even say they are bothered by tobacco smoke when they are surrounded by one or more smokers.
• And almost all of the teenagers surveyed (94%) say they want to live in a tobacco-free world.

Adults and teenagers seem on the same wavelength. This is also reflected in the indicators measuring tobacco consumption in recent years. “Consumption levels are among the lowest on record since the 2000s. underlined Marc-Antoine Douchet, researcher at the French Observatory of Drugs and Drug Addiction (OFDT), to our colleagues from World last September.

Preserving the future of young people

Faced with this observation, no less than seventeen associations, including the ACT-Alliance against tobacco, the League against cancer, or the ARC Foundation, are stepping up to challenge the presidential candidates, and their to ask “to ensure that children and young people in this country have a healthy and sustainable future, free from preventable tobacco-related deaths“. They highlight three key measures:

• Phasing out the sale of tobacco to protect the next generations with, from 2030, the end of the sale of tobacco for young people born after 2012 and a strengthening of penalties for non-compliance with the ban on the sale of tobacco products by tobacconists;
• Prohibition of the presence of tobacco near all schools with an expansion of tobacco-free zones, particularly places frequented by minors;
• Strengthening the transparency of tobacco industry lobbies by requiring parliamentarians to declare the authors and instigators of the amendments they table (i.e. to publish the name of the entity at the origin of the amendment) and by imposing the transparency of meetings between decision-makers and tobacco industry by making public the existence of these meetings and by imposing the publication of a report of the exchanges.

Follow the example of other countries

Several countries are already planning to put in place measures to achieve tobacco-free generations. This is the case of New Zealand, which unveiled a major long-term plan last December to ban the sale of tobacco in the country. Measures also seriously considered in Australia and Finland.

In France, the sale of tobacco is the cause of 75,000 deaths each year, including more than 45,000 from cancer.