CNCT launches petition to ban puffs

On October 25, the ACT-Alliance against tobacco and the National Committee against smoking (CNCT) jointly launched a call for an immediate ban on puff-type electronic cigarettes, which are very popular with adolescents.[1]. This request, which has received wide media coverage, is now the subject of a petition launched on October 28.

The petition, launched by the CNCT, recalls that banning puffs is essential from both a health and environmental point of view. If the public authorities commit to this path, France would then be the second country in the world to consider banning these products after theIreland.

Puffs, a new gateway to nicotine for young people

The association warns of the addictive nature and harmfulness of these products, particularly for adolescents. Some of these products contain very high levels of nicotine (up to 2%, the highest level authorized in the European Union). Nicotine is a very powerful drug that is highly addictive. For adolescents, the consequences of exposing the brain to nicotine can be all the more harmful as they have not yet reached the stage of brain maturity (which occurs around the age of 25).

The CNCT specifies that disposable electronic cigarettes are not promoted as a smoking cessation tool but rather as a fun way to consume nicotine. Young people who consume these products are likely to move on to even more dangerous products such as traditional cigarettes.

A massive source of pollution

The CNCT also points out the lack of information regarding the recycling of these products when purchased. Single-use, they can become massive and dangerous sources of waste if they are not recycled properly. The latter mostly end up in trash cans or in nature, as shown by the results of a British study on this subject which estimated that two disposable electronic cigarettes are thrown in the trash every second in the United Kingdom. Produced in large quantities, the poor management of these products risks further increasing the environmental burden of other tobacco and nicotine products, particularly manufactured cigarettes, since 20,000 tons of cigarette butts are thrown into nature each year in France.

The results of the Alliance's investigation are unequivocal: this is indeed a pediatric and industrial epidemic, as its President, Professor Loïc Josseran, points out, and it must be quickly thwarted.

To see the petition

©Generation Without Tobacco

AE