The tobacco industry is the only one in the world whose products legally kill one in two consumers. In France, this represents 68,000 deaths each year; more than 7 million worldwide.
If it were to be introduced today, such a harmful product would never obtain marketing authorization, the mechanism of which is as simple as it is cynical: legally selling a drug whose sole function is to maintain an addiction as strong – or even more so – than that of heroin, as a report from the US Department of Health says. And the industry continues to innovate to expand this addictive market, particularly through electronic cigarettes or nicotine sachets recently banned in France.
Legally ban tobacco
Faced with this, the United Kingdom has just taken a historic step by adopting a bill banning the sale of tobacco to people born after January 1, 2009. It thus becomes the first state on the European continent to take such a step. The expected benefits are considerable: according to researchers, this policy could make it possible, by 2075, to gain nearly 88,000 additional years of healthy life, particularly among the most disadvantaged populations.
France cannot stay on the sidelines. A similar bill, aimed at putting an end to the sale of tobacco products for all generations born after 2014, has been tabled in the National Assembly and has already collected nearly 40 signatures from deputies from all walks of life. It is the responsibility of the government and the legislator to seize this historic opportunity: to put a definitive end to the human, social and environmental disaster that constitutes the tobacco trade.
The leading cause of preventable death
Because should we remember it? Tobacco is the leading cause of preventable mortality in France and is responsible for numerous cancers as well as cardiovascular and respiratory diseases. Its social cost is estimated at 156 billion euros per year, which represents €2,300 per year per French person.
Added to this is an underestimated environmental impact: destruction of 600 million trees, loss of 22 billion tonnes of water, emission of 84 million tonnes of CO2… This trade also violates human rights: more than 1.3 million children are exploited in tobacco fields with disregard for their health and education.
This is the whole point of the law adopted in the United Kingdom and the text tabled in France: to put an end to this systemic issue which only aims to introduce new generations of consumers into nicotine addiction.
A protection measure targeted at future generations
Far from a prohibition, this is on the contrary a protective measure targeted at future generations, those who do not yet directly suffer from this addiction. Such a measure must naturally be accompanied by a strengthening of withdrawal assistance policies for people who are already dependent.
This new decisive step in the fight against tobacco confirms an already observable trend: daily smoking among young people aged 16 rises to only 3.1% in 2024 compared to 16% in 2015. It is these same young people who support such a proposal: nine out of ten French adolescents want to live in a tobacco-free world.
This is why we, a collective of associations, are calling on parliamentarians and the government to take stock of the issue. We call on them to urgently adopt the bill aimed at putting an end to the sale of tobacco to future generations.
Human lives must take precedence over destructive economic logic. It is a question of responsibility, of political coherence, but also of democratic trust. What state, what parent could want their children to one day become addicted to a drug that would cause them to lose at least fifteen years of life expectancy?
Tobacco is a harmful substance, a toxic product that must be eliminated from the market as quickly as possible.
(1) Co-signatories:
Pr. Claire Andrejak, president of the French-language Pneumology Society (SPLF); Gérard Audureau, president of DNF (Tomorrow will be non-smoking); Dominique Bazy, for Fondation ARC (Foundation for Cancer Research); Pr. Amine Benyamina, president of Respadd (Addiction Prevention Network); Philippe Bergerot, president of the League Against Cancer; Pr. Bruno Crestani, president of the Breath Foundation; Pr. Bertrand Dautzenberg, president of Paris Sans Tobacco; Ms. Conchita Delcroix-Gomez, for ANSFTAF (National Association of French Tobacco Midwives and Addictologists); Professor Michel-Henri Delcroix, for APPRI (Perinatal Information Research Association); Dr. Alice Deschenau, president of the Société francophone de tabacologie; Pr. Gérard Heft, president of the French Federation of Cardiology; Dr. Michel Jean, president of Capitole sans tabac; Pr. Yves Martinet, president of the CNCT (National Committee against Tobacco) and Grand Est sans tabac; Professor Gilles Montalescot, president Action-Cœur; Pr Claire Mounier-Véhier & Thierry Drilhon, co-founders of Agir pour le cœur des femmes; Muriel Papin, No Plastic in my Sea general delegate; Kristina Taylor, president of Parole & Action; Capucine Thomas and Camille Lecharpentier, co-presidents for Young Actors for the Climate; Dr. Jean-François Thébaut, president of the French Federation of Diabetics; Adèle Ungria, Young Ambassadors for the Climate; Jean Paul Vasseur, president FFAAIR (French Federation of Associations and Friends of Patients with Respiratory Insufficiency); Dr Nathalie Wirth, Association of Lorraine tobacco players
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