The French government has agreed to stop people from using disposable e-cigarettes because they are harmful to the environment and people’s health.
It still needs support from France’s Senate and approval from the EU Commission before it can become a law.
If both agree on the bill, the government thinks the ban will start in September 2024.
Many other countries in Europe, like the UK, Ireland, and Germany, are thinking about doing the same things.
Disposable vapes are sold in France at tobacconists for about €9 (£7. 70), which is less than the cost of a pack of 20 cigarettes. They are expected to provide about 600 puffs, which is like smoking 40 cigarettes.
In September, Prime Minister Élisabeth Borne, who is frequently seen using a vaping device in parliament, announced that the government is working on a new plan to reduce smoking.
“Deputy Francesca Pasquini said that they are very cheap, have tasty fruity and sugary flavors, and are small enough to easily hide from parents. ”
Advocates say that companies, especially those in China, are purposefully trying to attract teenagers by making their products look like candy and offering lots of different flavors like marshmallow, chocolate, watermelon, and ice candy.
Last month, the Alliance Against Tobacco (ACT) said that 15% of French 13-16 year olds have tried smoking at least once. Many people say they began when they were 11 or 12 years old.
French leader Élisabeth Borne uses an e-cigarette while answering questions in a meeting at The National Assembly in Paris on 18 July 2023.
Disposable e-cigarettes can harm the environment too. In the UK, a study found that over one million electronic devices were being thrown away every week last year according to the environmental organization Material Focus.
Health Minister Aurélien Rousseau said that e-cigarettes are a big problem for the environment.
“It’s a big problem for the environment,” a group of French doctors and environmentalists wrote in Le Monde newspaper earlier this year.
They explained that each throwaway e-cigarette is made of plastic and has a non-removable battery with about 0. 15 grams of lithium, along with nicotine salts and a small amount of heavy metals.
Vaping is thought to be a little better for your health than smoking. But the vapor you breathe in can still have some of the same chemicals as cigarettes, like nicotine. Experts are saying that it’s too soon to know how bad vaping is for you.
Tag: French government
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E-cigarettes: France supports bill to outlaw single-use vaporizers
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What is known so far about the Paris shooting
After a teenage guy was fatally shot by police during a traffic stop, there are fears that France would experience unrest for a second night.
If things go worse tonight, the French government has stated that it will send out 2,000 riot police.
It can be challenging to understand because there is a lot of context around the current upheaval and fresh information is constantly coming to light.
So, this is everything we currently know regarding the shooting of Nahel M, a 17-year-old.
The young boy was shot to death after being pulled over in a traffic stop in the town of Nanterre, just west of Paris, on Tuesday.
A reported statement from the French police said Nahel M had threatened to run them over but a team of three lawyers for the family rejected that.
Paris police chief Laurent Nunez said the action of the officer ‘raises questions’.
A video then started circulating on social media showing the officer pointing a gun at the driver of a car, the driver appears to pull off before a gunshot is heard and the car crashes to a stop. It has since been verified by AFP news agency.
AFP news agency reports that a person in the video can be heard saying: ‘You’re going to be shot in the head’. But it is unclear who says it.
Emergency services were called but the teenager ended up dying of bullet wounds to the chest.
The officer, who has reportedly said he felt his life was in danger, has been arrested on charges of voluntary manslaughter.
One of the lawyers representing Nahel M’s family, Yassine Bouzrou, said the clip ‘clearly showed a policeman killing a young man in cold blood,’ adding: ‘This is a long way from any kind of legitimate defence.’
Protesters flooded Nanterre on Tuesday night, with cars and rubbish bins set alight, bus shelters destroyed and fireworks set off near a police station.
Riot police used shields and tear gas to try and control the crowds and the clashes have left at least 24 officers injured and 31 arrested.
This is the second fatal shooting by French police at traffic stops this year. Last year, there were a record 13 deaths during police traffic stops in France, after three in 2021 and two in 2020.
A Reuters analysis of such shootings over the past two years found the majority of victims were Black or of Arabic origin, like Naël M.
Today has seen more details emerge about who Nahel M was and what his life looked like.
French newspaper L’independent reported he was a pizza delivery boy in his hometown.
He also played rugby for the Nanterre Pirates through the team’s partnership with the group Ovale Citoyen, which aims to promote social inclusion and fight discrimination using sport.
In an interview with Le Parisien, Ovale Citoyen president Jeff Puech said Naël was ‘someone who had the desire to fit in socially and professionally, not a kid who lived off the deal or took pleasure in petty crime’.
Naël’s family released a picture of the teenager with the caption ‘the love of my life’.
His grandmother, who spoke anonymously, said: ‘I will never forgive them.
‘My grandson died, they killed my grandson. We are not happy at all, I am against the government.‘They killed my grandson, now I don’t care about anyone, they took my grandson from me, I will never forgive them in my life, never, never, never.’
‘He was a kid who used rugby to get by,’ he added, saying the teenager had ‘an exemplary attitude, far from the disgusting comments that we can see on social networks’.
Naël’s devastated mother, who asked not to be named, said: ‘I lost a 17-year-old, I was alone with him, and they took my baby away from me. He was still a child, he needed his mother.’
French president Emmanuel Macron said ‘the whole nation’ is moved after the killing, which he described as ‘unexplainable and inexcusable’.
He went on to call for ‘calm for justice to be done’, adding: ‘Justice was immediately seized.
‘Our police and gendarmes are committed to protecting us and serving the Republic. I thank them every day for that. They do so within an ethical framework that must be respected.
‘It is up to justice to establish the truth and assign responsibility. I hope that his work can be completed quickly.
‘As such, what Nanterre and the nation need is respect and calm.’