cigarettes soon to be banned on beaches and parks

Perhaps you have already been bothered by a cloud of smoke from your neighbor on the beach, near schools or in parks. At the beginning of 2024, cigarettes will be banned in all these public places. In a park in Lyon, in the Rhône, between two curls of smoke, those first concerned are not convinced. One man says the measure would not encourage him to smoke less. Same echo in Palavas-les-Flots, in Hérault. “Cigarette smoke in a very ventilated place, like the beach, especially for example in the middle of winter (…) it doesn’t bother many people,” believes a woman.

“Not a normal product in our environment”

The measure is far from being anecdotal for Loïc Josseran, tobacco specialist and president of the Alliance Against Tobacco. “Reducing the space and reducing the areas in which we can smoke shows us that this is not a normal product in our environment. And then the fewer spaces in which we can smoke , the less we smoke and the less we will want to smoke and the possibility of doing so”he says.

Among our sources:

Weekly epidemiological bulletin from Public Health France published on May 31, 2023

Number of smokers in France

Number of tobacco-free zones

Non-smoking beaches in Le Touquet

Non-exhaustive list.