Puffs are well and truly over: after the green light from Europe, these electronic cigarettes will be banned in France

La commission européenne donne le feu vert à la France pour interdire la puff

The European Commission supports the French bill to ban the sale of puffs and, more generally, disposable electronic cigarettes containing nicotine in France.

The law was adopted in December 2023 by the National Assembly, then by the Senate. All that remained was the approval of the European Union. This has now been done, which suggests a ban in the coming months.

The European Commission has just authorized France to ban puffs, these disposable electronic cigarettes very popular among teenagers.

“Health, social and environmental scourge”

According to a study commissioned by the Alliance Against Tobacco (ACT) in 2023, among young people aged 13 to 16, 73% of respondents had already heard of puffs and 15% had already used them. Among users, 47% had nicotine.

The cross-party bill, led by Francesca Pasquini, was adopted by the French Parliament last March. The Minister of Health at the time, Catherine Vautrin, had denounced a "health, social and environmental scourge", emphasizing that the marketing of these products is designed to attract young people with bright colors, fruity aromas, and low prices.

A ban on puffs "justified, necessary and proportionate"

The European Commission justified its decision by a concern for public health, describing the ban on puffs as “justified, necessary and proportionate” in the face of health issues. France had also highlighted the environmental impacts of these disposable electronic cigarettes, particularly due to the microplastics and chemicals they contain, and the lithium batteries for both their production and recycling.

The European institution also highlighted the low cost of these products, significantly lower than that of a classic packet of cigarettes, making them particularly attractive. Their price varies between 5 and 20 euros, depending on the battery life and the number of puffs (around 500 to 5,000 puffs, or the equivalent of 20 to 200 cigarettes), which is lower than the average cost of a packet of conventional cigarettes, estimated at 12 euros.

However, this European validation only concerns puffs and does not apply to other rechargeable electronic cigarettes, the sale of which remains authorized.

The European Commission writes: “Taking into consideration the objective of ensuring a high level of protection of human health pursued by Directive 2014/40/EU, the national ban on the manufacture, possession for sale, distribution or free offer, offering for sale, sale, distribution or free offer of disposable e-cigarettes containing nicotine can be considered to comply with the requirements set out in Article 24(3) of the Directive, insofar as it concerns disposable e-cigarettes intended to be placed on the market in France or which are already marketed there."

The French Parliament can now definitively confirm its vote, paving the way for the law to be enacted. In a tweet, Francesca Pasquini even gave a date, announcing an effective withdrawal from the French market by the end of 2024.