No new tobacco taxes in sight for the year 2024. But the government has found another target: “the famous puffs which give bad habits to young people”, lambasted Élisabeth Borne, the Prime Minister, in a interview at RTL this Sunday, September 3. In a new plan to fight against smoking which will be unveiled “soon”, the ban on disposable electronic cigarettes which arrived in France at the end of 2021 promises to be emblematic of a trend that several European countries have already tried to stem.
A public health measure
Belgium is a figurehead in this fight against the colored plastic cigarettes favored by teenagers. According to a FARES survey, the Respiratory Affections Fund, a Belgian association for the fight against smoking, 1 in 4 young people who know the “puff” use it. This object, which contains between 0 and 20 mg / ml of nicotine, therefore quickly turned into a public health issue which was taken up by the federal service concerned, which tried to ban points of sale from November 2022. The European Commission rejected the project, notifying Belgium of the need to justify that these cigarettes are a specific problem in their country.
Mathieu Capouet, head of the expertise unit of FPS Public Health, emphasized to the Belgian media RTBF its desire to ban these disposable electronic cigarettes by December 31, 2025. “If we sent a file, it is because we think that there is a real public health problem in Belgium, specifies-t- 11. We are confident that we will be able to convince the Commission of the merits of our request.” Because the difficulty in prohibiting the use of this type of cigarette lies in the existence of a European directive authorizing these products to circulate on the common market.
In Ireland, the choice was made to specifically prohibit the sale of vaping products to persons under 18 years of age. Since this summer, minors can therefore no longer obtain these vapers with a fruity taste. Their advertising around schools and public transport is also prohibited. “We are implementing a strict licensing system for the retail sale of tobacco products and nicotine inhalants, with the power to suspend and revoke these licenses for violations of tobacco control law,” insisted the Irish Health Minister Stephen Donnelly.
Environmental Considerations
In Germany, the banning process is ongoing. At the initiative of Bavaria, which aspires to see a text adopted both at national and European level, the subject is currently under discussion. The reasons given to support this ban come from the committees for the environment and the economy: recycling “puff”, poorly sorted and discarded among household waste, is often impossible. Their batteries cannot be recharged or replaced; they are generally made from lithium ion and therefore carry a risk of fire. The government and parliament must approve the drafting of this law before the measure comes into force. According to a survey of smoking behavior carried out in 2022 by the German Center for Tobacco Use (DEBRA), the proportion of smokers or vapers in the group of young people aged 14 to 17 doubled compared to the previous year, reaching 15.9 % against 8.7% in 2021.
The blow to the European “puff” market could, however, take place at the end of 2026. This time again, due to an environmental argument: the European ban on “any device with integrated batteries and not removable” should come into force and therefore concern disposable electronic cigarettes. There remains the vote of the European Parliament on this decision, perceived as a formality, before its final adoption.
Outside European borders, some countries are also getting tougher. The marketing of “puff” is for example no longer authorized in New Zealand since the beginning of August 2023. Their packaging and the name of the tastes of these electronic cigarettes have the obligation to be “neutral”. Australia, for its part, has banned recreational vaping and obliges people wishing to obtain vapers to obtain a prescription and to go to a pharmacy, the only place where these devices are sold. Measures to restore the electronic cigarette to its role as a substitute for tobacco, which it had when it began its success in 2010.