MEPs will vote on a text that could, exceptionally, achieve unanimity in the chamber. Monday 4 and Tuesday 5 December they will examine the cross-party bill from MPs Francesca Pasquini (Europa Ecologie-Les Verts, Hauts-de-Seine) and Michel Lauzzana (Renaissance, Lot-et-Garonne), which aims to: Ban disposable electronics vaping devices, also known as “puffs.”

These easy-to-use, prefilled and non-refillable disposable e-cigarettes, which will hit the French market in 2021, are blamed for contributing to the popularity of vaping among young people. With bright colors and sweet flavors (cola, iced tea, cotton candy, milkshake, etc.), the marketing of these new “vape” products is aimed at young people, although their sale to minors remains prohibited.

For a modest price (5 to 15 euros), the puffs promise a lifespan of 500 to 800 puffs (compared to fifteen for a classic cigarette). Their nicotine levels vary widely between 0 milligrams per milliliter (mg/ml) and 20 mg/ml, which can be high enough to be highly addictive.

A potential gateway to tobacco

Thanks to price increases and health campaigns, tobacco sales in France have been declining for fifteen years, rising from 65,728 tons in 2006 to 40,314 tons in 2022.

Accordingly the Escapad investigationAccording to the study carried out regularly by the French Observatory of Drugs and Addictive Trends (OFDT), tobacco consumption among 17-year-olds has fallen sharply: two thirds had tried cigarettes in 2014, compared to less than half in 2022. In the same During this period the number of daily smokers increased and was halved.

But alongside this decline in smoking, the consumption of electronic cigarettes, particularly among young people, has also exploded in recent years. In 2022, vaping at age 17 surpassed the level of experimentation and recent tobacco use for the first time. The number of daily vapers in this age group has even tripled within five years.

“The diversification of the offer, the great accessibility and awareness, especially via social networks, are elements that explain the greater popularity of vaping.” among young people, notes Marc-Antoine Douchet, researcher at the OFDT and author of the latest Assessment of smoking and smoking cessation. The organization doesn’t have specific numbers for Puff, but Mr. Douchet acknowledges this “Marketing strategies aimed at younger people are likely to increase the incidence of addictive behavior.”.

Accordingly a survey conducted in September by the BVA for the Alliance Against Tobacco In a representative sample of 1,000 teens ages 13 to 16, 15% of teens said they had used a puff and 47% of them said they had been exposed to nicotine through this device.

Despite the ban on the sale of e-cigarette products to minors, including those without nicotine, more than a quarter of respondents (28%) believed that it was easy to obtain e-cigarettes and 34% incorrectly believed that they were are also accessible to those under 18.

The electronic cigarette can be presented as a means of quitting smoking, but this is not the case with puffs, assures Marc-Antoine Douchet: these disposable e-cigarettes “are actually a risk when starting to use nicotine, especially since qualitative surveys show that their addictive potential is not necessarily recognized”. This renormalization of smoking could undermine the government’s goal of a tobacco-free generation by 2032.

An “environmental aberration”

These new cigarettes also pose significant environmental problems. These devices contain a lithium battery, copper conductors or LEDs and should not be disposed of with household waste, but rather at designated collection points for waste electrical and electronic equipment. However, very few retailers and tobacconists promote the recycling of puffs, and their collection remains minimal.

According to a survey carried out in the UK this year by the NGO Material Focus, five million trains are thrown away every week, a number that has almost quadrupled in a year, and only 17% of users recycled them. Across the Channel alone, the lithium contained in the 360 ​​million trains purchased each year could power almost 5,000 electric vehicles, assures the NGO that promotes the recycling and reuse of electrical devices.

“Even with proper sorting, these soldered lithium battery products are nearly impossible for professionals to recycle.”, adds MP Francesca Pasquini, rapporteur on the French bill. To separate all the elements contained in this small object would require a long and careful chain. “These products are an environmental failure that uses natural resources in the worst possible way.”denounces the elected environmentalist.

Uncertainty about the European validation of the ban

The environmental group in the National Assembly introduced its bill in November 2022 that aims to ban disposable e-cigarettes. The text has become non-partisan: it is supported by 162 MPs from eight political groups.

The ban doesn’t seem to be up for debate – even the Tobacco Products Association is in favor of it – and should easily achieve a majority in parliament. Debate in the Palais-Bourbon on December 4th and 5th, expected in the Senate in the first half of 2024, with entry into force before the next school year. The government has already included this ban in the key measures Its national tobacco control program was unveiled on November 28th.

However, a major uncertainty remains: the opinion of the European Commission. The government must inform them of this proposed ban so that it can check whether it complies with Community law. Once the notification is received, the Commission has six months to approve or reject the puff ban.

And that is not a given, says Vincent Couronne, a specialist in European law and head of the Les Surligneurs collective: “The European Union has a 2014 directive on tobacco products that only allows states to take exceptional measures in certain individual cases. » Article 54 predicts that“to take possible future developments in the market into account” Member States may ban a category of tobacco products based on a specific situation in their country, provided that the ban is justified by the following “the need to protect public health, taking into account the high level of protection guaranteed by this Directive”.

“France must manage to show that these whorehouses represent a particular public health problem in our country, for example addiction among young people.”explains Vincent Couronne. However, there are currently no scientific studies or precise figures on the consumption of these disposable e-cigarettes in France. The Commission is still examining whether the ban is proportionate and therefore risks asking why, for example, France does not favor regulating the packaging of these cigarettes, as is the case with plain packs. »

Belgium, which also wants to ban single-use electronic cigarettes, experienced this this summer. The Commission, which received an initial communication from the Belgian government in December 2022, asked it to review its copy to identify the country-specific problem that would justify a ban. The European executive mainly took the view that the dossier should only be based on public health issues and rejected environmental arguments. A new file was forwarded to the Commission on September 19th. The response, expected by March 2024, will serve as a test for France.