1. French Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne has said that disposable vapes will soon be banned in the country as part of a national anti-smoking plan. Borne, speaking on RTL radio, did not say when the ban would begin.
2. She said the government would soon be announcing more information about its anti-smoking plan. Smoking is the cause of 75,000 deaths a year in the country, she added. The plan will include a ban on disposable vapes, which she said “are giving bad habits to young people.”
3. E-cigarettes have been thought of as a good way to help adult smokers to stop smoking cigarettes.
(1)Do you know anyone who has switched from regular cigarettes to vapes?
(2)How popular is vaping among young people in your country?
4. But Borne thinks that when young people begin to use vapes, they are more likely to start smoking. According to data from 2022, more than half of the 17-year-olds in France have tried a vape.
5. Eurostat data from 2019 found that among countries in the European Union, French people vaped the most. And the use of vapes among young people has been increasing across Europe.
6. Experts say that vaping is much less harmful than smoking but that we still do not know the long-term effects.
Does your country have an anti-smoking plan in place?
8. There is already a ban on selling e-cigarettes to people under 18, although this is not always respected. Advertising these products is also banned.
