France to prohibit smoking on beaches, parks and near schools

France will prohibit smoking on all country estates that can be visited by children, has said the health and family minister Catherine Vautrin.

The prohibition will take effect on July 1 and will include beaches, parks, public gardens, outdoor schools, bus stops and sports locations.

“Tobacco must disappear where children are,” Vautrin said in an interview that Daily was published by Ouest-France.

Vautrin added that “the freedom to smoke must end where the freedom of children to breathe a fresh air starts”.

The outdoor spaces of cafés and bar – known as Terraces – will be exempt from the ban, she said.

Vautrin explained that violating the rules would be a fine of € 135 (£ 113; $ 153).

She said that the regular police would force the ban, but also adds that she was a strong supporter of the “self -regulation”.

Although electronic cigarettes are exempt, Vautrin said she worked to introduce limits to the quantities of nicotine they contain.

According to the French monitoring center for drugs and drug addiction, 23.1% of the French population smokes daily – the lowest percentage ever registered and a decrease of more than five points since 2014.

The National Committee of France against Smoking says that more than 75,000 smokers die every year from tobacco -related diseases – 13% of all deaths.

Smoking in branches such as restaurants and night clubs has been prohibited in France since 2008.

Widespread measures to ban smoking on beaches, parks and other public places were intended to start in 2024, but the decision needed was never adopted.

More than 1500 municipalities have already voluntarily banned smoking in public places, and hundreds of beaches in France are not already in the eye.

A recent report from France Cancer Association La Ligue Contreme Le Cancer shows that almost 80% of the French for a ban on smoking in public places such as forest, beach, parks and terrace.