The iconic image of a smoking Parisian is becoming a thing of the past as France has banned smoking in most public areas.
France’s new law dictates that tobacco must disappear where there are children, and parents, as well as the majority of the country, agree. Those who choose to smoke in public in areas like the beach or the park could face a fine. The ban also applies to bus shelters, areas near libraries, swimming pools and schools.
Violators could face a fine of 135 euros ($160) up to a maximum of 700 euros ($826), according to French news agency AFP. However, the health ministry is expecting an initial grace period as the new rules go into effect this week.
For decades, lighting up a cigarette was less a vice than a vibe — part of the cultural mise-en-scène. More than 200 people in France die each day of tobacco-related illness, Health Minister Catherine Vautrin said in a statement Saturday. That adds up to 75,000 people dying from smoking each year, and the French government wanted the chapter to fade to black.
The ban aims “to promote what we call denormalization. In people’s minds, smoking is normal,” Philippe Bergerot, president of the French League Against Cancer, told the Associated Press. “We aren’t banning smoking; we are banning smoking in certain places where it could potentially affect people’s health and … young people.”
It has been illegal to smoke in restaurants, bars and public buildings since a series of bans in 2007 and 2008. Ever-higher taxes mean a pack now costs upwards of 12 euros ($14).
Yet more than 30% of French adults still smoke cigarettes, most of them daily, one of the higher rates in Europe and globally. The Health Ministry is particularly concerned that tobacco remains popular among young people, citing public health statistics showing that 15% of 17-year-olds smoke. Black market cigarette trading is common.
There remains one final refuge for smokers — at café terraces on many sidewalks.
Catherine Querard, the president of France’s national restaurant lobby, told CBS that the terraces are “a space of freedom.”
“Terraces are relationships, socialization and it’s very important for us,” Querard said. They are also a pillar of France’s identity and economy. Querard says a third of all café terrasse sales happen outside.
Some smokers say they get the new ban, but others think their right is being restricted.
“I’m a smoker. I smoke because I’m stressed, not because it’s my pleasure,” one smoker on the street of Paris told CBS News. “To us, this is the last defense for smoking. But honestly? It’s part of the freedom we enjoy in France. If you restrict that … another freedom disappears.”
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