In recent years, electronic cigarettes have been at the top of the basket among the solutions for quitting smoking. However, not all of them are as harmless as they seem, especially for the youngest. The Puff, these disposable electronic cigarettes with or without nicotine, are a hit among teenagers and create controversy around their ban.
Barely out of tobacco, Maxime finds his friends sitting on the bench in front of a Parisian college. A large cloud of perfumed smoke envelops them. Everyone smokes Puff and everyone has their favorite flavor. ” Wild strawberry, iced mango, mint, iced grape they list. ” It’s cold in the throat adds one of the teenagers with a laugh.
A real fashion phenomenon among teenagers and a guarantee of a cool attitude, the Puff contains an average of 600 puffs. For this group of high school students, they have many advantages as well. ” In fact, it’s super obsessive, there are lots of tastes, everyone exchanges them, we buy them for an evening says one.
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Another teenager chimed in: Sometimes I collected my Puff. So, I put them in a little bag like that, it was a decoration in my room. It’s a pacifier, you always have it in your hand, compared to a cigarette. All the time in the mouth, all the time… “. Another adds: People can smoke it in their room without being “burnt” by the parents, because it does not necessarily smell of smoke, it permeates clothes less than cigarettes. »
A product targeted for young people and little controlled
Arguments that seriously concern health professionals. Sold between 6 and 11 euros in tobacconists, on the net or in city center grocery stores, Puffs are prohibited for sale to minors. However, controls are rare and for Loïc Josserand, public health doctor, these disposable cigarettes were indeed designed for the youngest.
” We are on a product that has been marketed to attract the youngest, in a rather cool and nice dimension, with flashy colors, inscriptions on it and tastes all more attractive than the other for young people. “, he explains. ” And above all, the main problem from a health point of view of these products is that it leads to smoking. This has been shown in various scientific works. A young person who begins to consume without having used tobacco beforehand is 3 or 4 times more likely to become a smoker. »
An environmental “horror”
In addition to the health aspect, the impact of Puff on the environment is also a problem. If the Senate voted at the beginning of November in favor of a tax dissuasive on these disposable cigarettes, some plead for a more radical decision.
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” We are on a product which contains a lithium battery, which contains an e-liquid tank which always contains some at the end, which contains plastic, packaging, a metal part... “, enumerates Loïc Josserand. ” All these products, once consumed, end up directly in nature. So, from an environmental point of view, it’s an eyesore. The only thing we can do is to ban them from sale. “, wishes the doctor.
Prohibited from importation into New Caledonia since May 2022, the Puff in France still has a bright future ahead of it. But Valentin gives one last piece of advice: For all the young people who hear us, know that for all those who try to be kind by buying themselves Puffs, cigarettes… It’s really not stylish. Perhaps the next anti-tobacco campaign slogan…