PARIS (AP) 鈥 France has struggled to kick its smoking habit. A new public health decree published Saturday aims to change that.
In the coming days, smoking will be banned in all French parks and sports venues, at beaches and bus stops, in a perimeter around all schools, and anywhere children could
In a country where smoking has for generations been glamorized in cinema and intertwined with the national image, government crackdowns on tobacco use have met resistance.
鈥淚n France, we still have this mindset of saying, 鈥榯his is a law that restricts freedom,''' Philippe Bergerot, president of the French League Against Cancer, told the Associated Press.
The ban aims 鈥欌檛o promote what we call denormalization. In people鈥檚 minds, smoking is normal,'' he said. 鈥欌橶e aren鈥檛 banning smoking; we are banning smoking in certain places where it could potentially affect people鈥檚 health and ... young people.''
It鈥檚 been illegal to smoke in restaurants, bars and public buildings since a series of bans in 2007 and 2008. Ever-higher taxes mean a pack now costs upwards of 12 euros ($14).
Yet more than 30% of French adults still smoke cigarettes, most of them daily, one of the . The Health Ministry is particularly concerned that tobacco remains popular among young people, citing public health statistics showing that 15% of 17-year-olds smoke. Black market cigarette trading is common.
More than 200 people in France die each day of tobacco-related illness, Health Minister Catherine Vautrin said in a statement Saturday. That adds up to some 75,000 deaths per year.
In a Paris park as the ban loomed, views were mixed.
Parisian Natacha Uzan welcomed the end of smoking in restaurants. But she said: 鈥欌橬ow outside, in parks, I find it becoming a bit repressive.鈥
The broader ban is a 鈥樷檊ood thing'' for Anabelle Cermell, mother of a 3-month-old boy. 鈥樷橧 tell myself, oh, it鈥檚 really not ideal for him, but there鈥檚 not much I can do about it, or I would have to ... not take the bus, not go to parks.鈥
The government said last month that the new ban would take effect July 1. The official decree introducing the ban was published Saturday, and a health minister鈥檚 statement said that a government order specifying the perimeters set by the ban would be published in the coming days.
are exempt from the new ban.
Other European countries have gone farther. Britain and Sweden have tightened smoking regulations in public spaces. Spain is extending its smoking ban to caf茅 and restaurant terraces, which are exempt from France鈥檚 new ban.
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Angela Charlton in Paris contributed.
