THE French parliament on Thursday voted to ban single-use electronic cigarettes, arguing that they are gateways to tobacco addiction for teenagers and harmful to the environment.
The bill was approved with a final vote in the Senate upper house. France now becomes the second EU country after Belgium to have introduced such a ban.
Pre-filled disposable e-cigarettes, known as “puffs”, are popular with young people, can have a high nicotine content, are cheap, and come in many flavours including apple, watermelon and chocolate.
“It is a great victory in a twopronged battle that we were fighting: an environmental battle against the polluting lithium batteries in these ‘puffs’, and a health battle for our schoolchildren,” Francesca Pasquini, the author of the bill, told AFP.
She said she hoped that France’s example could inspire other countries. The legislation was unanimously backed by the National Assembly lower house last week.
ဖ“A fine piece of cross-party work!” lawmaker Michel Lauzzana said on X. The bill prohibits the sale and distribution in France of devices “pre-filled with a liquid and not refillable, whether or not they have a rechargeable battery.”
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