In a Le Monde op-ed, doctor Loïc Josseran calls for strengthening France's fight against smoking. He criticizes state funding for tobacconists and the tobacco industry's targeting of children with nicotine products. Despite progress, a new narrative of denormalization is needed to protect society.
The Mois sans tabac campaign started on November 1, urging smokers to quit. Yet the state funds tobacconists while allowing the tobacco and nicotine industry to target children, according to Loïc Josseran, a doctor writing in this op-ed.
Santé publique France reports a seven-point drop in tobacco consumption over the last three years: 17.4% of French people smoke daily. These gains stem from decades of pioneering measures in Europe. In 1976, Simone Veil banned tobacco advertising. In 1991, Claude Evin protected minors and raised prices. In 2006, Xavier Bertrand banned smoking in public spaces. In 2016, Marisol Touraine introduced plain packaging with shock images. In 2020, Agnès Buzyn set the pack price at 10 euros and reimbursed nicotine replacement therapy.
Jacques Chirac declared war on tobacco in 2002 with the first cancer plan. France ratified the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control in 2004, though it is not fully implemented today. Other key decisions include banning flavored cigarettes, candy cigarettes, misleading descriptions like “light” or “léger,” and regulating pack sizes.
Josseran advocates a “denormalization” narrative: tobacco as a societal threat, an ecological catastrophe devastating Southern countries, a financial drain costing 156 billion euros annually to the economy, and a violation of children's rights, with minors exploited in Malawi tobacco fields and facing addiction in France. He suggests cutting subsidies to tobacconists, taxing industry profits, and banning new products before they spread.