THE French government said today it would ban smoking on all beaches, in public parks and forests, and near schools.

“From now on, no-smoking areas will be the norm,” Health Minister Aurelien Rousseau told reporters at a presentation of the government’s anti-smoking programme.

He said there were already 7,200 tobacco-free areas in France but they had been mostly designated by local authorities, not the central government.

“We are now shifting the responsibility and establishing a principle, which will become the rule,” Rousseau said.

Taxes on cigarettes will be hiked, Rousseau also said, with a pack of 20, currently at around €11 (RM56.29), rising to €12 by 2025 and €13 the following year.

The government was also planning to ban so-called “puffs”, single-use disposable e-cigarettes that are particularly popular among young people, he said.

The government aims to create “the first tobacco-free generation by 2032”, as President Emmanuel Macron promised, Rousseau said. – AFP, November 28, 2023.