France to ban smoking on beaches and close to schools

PARIS: The French government said on Tuesday it would ban smoking on all the country´s 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 euros ($12), rising to 12 euros by 2025 and 13 euros 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.