France will ban smoking in all outdoor places that can be accessed by children, the health and family minister said in an announcement on Thursday. The places where smoking will be banned include beaches, parks and bus stops. French Health and Family Minister Catherine Vautrin, in an interview published on Ouest-France daily's website, said, "The decision is rooted in public health, particularly for children. The freedom to smoke stops where children’s right to breathe clean air starts." She added that tobacco "must disappear where there are children”.
The restriction on smoking will be rolled out from July 1, with prohibitions kicking in from lighting a cigarette in public places, including:
- Bus and tram stops
- School surroundings
- Public parks and gardens
- Beaches, among other places
In her interview, the French minister suggested some exceptions, including:
Café terraces will be exempt, implying that adults can smoke outside a café while having their coffee. Electronic cigarettes have not been brought under a ban; however, France may impose strict rules on this, as she suggested that the government was "working to introduce limits on the amounts of nicotine they contain".
Notably, violating the ban may attract a €135 (£113; $153) fine, which translates into almost Rs 12,000.
Almost 23.1% of the French population smokes on a daily basis, as per the French Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction. However, this comes as the lowest percentage ever recorded, and a decline of over five points since 2014.
According to France's National Committee Against Smoking, more than 75,000 smokers die each year of tobacco-related illnesses, which accounts for 13% of all deaths.