French parliament votes to ban disposable e-cigarettes

PARIS: The French parliament on Thursday voted to ban single-use electronic cigarettes, arguing that they are gateways to tobacco addiction for teenagers and harmful to the environment.

The bill was approved with a final vote in the Senate upper house. France now becomes the second EU country after Belgium to have introduced such a ban.

Pre-filled disposable e-cigarettes, known as “puffs,” are popular with young people, can have a high nicotine content, are cheap, and come in many flavours including apple, watermelon and chocolate. “It is a great victory in a two-pronged battle that we were fighting: an environmental battle against the polluting lithium batteries in these ‘puffs,’ and a health battle for our schoolchildren,” Francesca Pasquini, the author of the bill, said.

She said she hoped that France’s example could inspire other countries.

The legislation was unanimously backed by the National Assembly lower house last week.

“A fine piece of cross-party work!” lawmaker Michel Lauzzana said on X.

The bill prohibits the sale and distribution in France of devices “pre-filled with a liquid and not refillable, whether or not they have a rechargeable battery”.

The wording follows the recommendations of the European Commission.

In a statement, the League Against Cancer association hailed a “major breakthrough” but urged authorities to go further by “banning new nicotine products and derivatives”. Fifteen percent of adolescents aged 13 to 16 have used “puffs,” according to a survey from 2023.

The measure is part of a wider government anti-smoking campaign.

Health authorities in France and Belgium say that chronic nicotine consumption is especially harmful to the adolescent brain and could encourage use of other drugs.

In December 2024, Belgium approved legislation to become the first EU country to ban disposable e-cigarettes.

The European Union aims to achieve a tobacco-free generation by 2040, reducing the 27-country bloc’s smoking population from around 25 percent now to less than five percent of the total.