Despite the increase in anti-smoking measures in France and the rise in the price of rolling tobacco, a third of French remains addicted to cigarettes. This is more than our neighbors who have significantly reduced their consumption in recent years.
After the introduction, last May, of the neutral cigarette packet, the Minister of Health Marisol Touraine has just announced a new anti-smoking measure for next January: the 15% increase in the price of roll-your-own tobacco. A product hitherto less expensive than packaged cigarettes and which, therefore, constitutes the gateway to smoking for a certain number of young people.
For many years, the French government has made a priority of the fight against smoking that would be responsible for more than 70.000 annual deaths in France. This fight has been fought in all the countries of the European Union, but it has been with greater determination in the developed countries of Western Europe.
Everywhere, the trend is to increase taxes on cigarettes while the ban on tobacco in public places and workplaces has become widespread and awareness campaigns are increasing. Result: tobacco consumption has fallen significantly over the past thirty years but strong disparities remain in Europe.
32% of smokers in France ...
Compared to their neighbors, the French remain heavy smokers. According to the very comprehensive data of the Eurobarometer published in May 2015 and covering the year 2014, France ranks 4rd on 28 countries of the Union in terms of proportion of smokers in the population.
Only outpaced by the Greeks, Bulgarians and Croats, 32% of French declare themselves smokers against 29% of the Spanish, 27% of the Germans, 22% of the British and 21% of the Italians. The most virtuous country in Europe is by far Sweden where those who smoke are only 11%.
In addition, the evolution of smoking in France is hardly encouraging since the country counts 14% of smokers more than 2012 and only 4% less than in 2006, while on average Europe has seen the number of smokers drop by 18% in the last ten years.
... despite a high price of tobacco
Poor results that have nothing to do with the price of tobacco in France. According to Tobacco Manufacturer's Association, only the United Kingdom and Ireland have a higher average package price in 2016 than in France (more than 10 euros). At 7 € package, France ranks 3rd out of 28 in terms of price. With our immediate neighbors, this average price fluctuates between 5 and 6 € and it even drops to 3 / 3,50 € in Eastern Europe. Not to mention Bulgaria where the package costs only € 2,60!
Respect for "no smoking"
Would smoking bans then be respected less in France than elsewhere? Not at all. First of all, they are among the largest in Europe and have been set up for coffee shops eight years ago. And the bans are well respected in France.
In this respect, the Eurobarometer surveyed customers of restaurants in all EU countries. In a few countries, a large number of clients indicate that they have been exposed to tobacco in restaurants, despite the ban on smoking. This is for example the case of 72% of Greeks, 59% of Romanians and also 44% of Austrianswhere the bans are recent, partial and, therefore, poorly respected.
However, only 9% of restaurant customers in France say they have been exposed. It is hardly more than in Italy (8%) or in Germany (7%). As you can imagine, almost no one said they were exposed in Sweden.
Heavy smokers are legion in Austria
With 13 cigarettes on average per day, French smokers consume slightly less tobacco than the European average (14,4 cigarettes). It is also a little less than their German, British or Italian neighbors. And significantly less than the Austrians who smoke their daily pack. However, these high numbers only reveal a reality common to all of Europe: people who continue to smoke in 2016 are heavy smokers. Occasional smokers have all but disappeared.
What is the role of alternative smoking »What does the electronic cigarette offer? It is reduced because the “vapoteuse” remains of limited use in Europe where 2% of the population declares to use it. But France is, with the United Kingdom, the country where its use is the most developed with 4% of users in the population.
In addition, the electronic cigarette is the solution chosen to stop or attempt to stop smoking by 18% smokers or former French smokers. On the whole of Europe, this proportion is only 10%.
More young people, more smokers
It is therefore not easy to understand why the French smoke more than their neighbors. In the absence of a scientifically proven explanation, we can nevertheless identify a correlation between demography and smoking, as young populations tend to smoke more than their elders.
This is evident in France where 40% of 16-25 are smokers, which is more than elsewhere in Europe. However, this age group represents 12% of the French population against 9,9% in Italy and 6,5% in Germany.
Moreover, we know that young people consume more cigarettes, for price reasons, to roll. While 29% of European smokers use - regularly or occasionally - this bulk tobacco, French smokers are 44% to use it with a high prevalence of less than 25 years.
In this context, we better understand Marisol Touraine's decision to tax roll-your-own tobacco more: it targets young smokers who are largely at the origin of the poor French results in terms of smoking.
Source : Myeurop.info
