Testimonies. Cigarette ban: "It was about time" for some, "social exclusion" for others

Smoking on the beach, in public parks, around schools, sports facilities, or at bus shelters will soon be a thing of the past. Starting July ¹ , the government will implement this ban, promised for the end of 2023. "Where there are children, tobacco must disappear," Labor Minister Catherine Vautrin declared in an interview with Ouest-France on Thursday . A measure that delights some but frustrates others: we asked for your opinion.

For many of our readers, this is a "very good initiative." Like Jérémy, 46, a smoker for over 30 years who regularly tries to quit . "It's obviously an excellent thing to reduce the proximity of tobacco to non-smokers in general and young people in particular. I remember the outcry when bars, restaurants and nightclubs became smoke-free... Ultimately, it's perfectly integrated and no one would want to go back," says this resident of Beaumont-lès-Valence (Drôme).

For Claude, it's also good news. "I'm not a smoker, but I suffered from passive smoking when I ran a brasserie before the year 2000. After the smoking ban in restaurants, what a difference!" recalls the octogenarian who lives in Saint-Didier-au-Mont-d'Or, in the Lyon metropolitan area (Rhône). Jocelyne, 60, living in Vecoux (Vosges), sees it as a health and environmental issue: "It was about time! Cigarettes are poisonous and polluting. Too many cigarette butts are lying around everywhere." An opinion also shared by Estelle, 46, tired of "having to put up with the smell of cigarettes everywhere" she goes.

But for others, the measure doesn't go far enough, since it doesn't apply to café and restaurant terraces: "It should apply to all public spaces," says Patricia, 67, a resident of Wittelsheim (Haut-Rhin). A position defended by many of our readers, like Jean-Pierre: "Is it up to non-smokers to leave these places to avoid toxic smoke during a meal? It's a real public health problem," emphasizes the 72-year-old Grenoble resident.

Patricia also insists on the need to enforce the rule: "We will also have to fine those who break it, otherwise it won't do much good." A fixed fine of 135 euros is indeed planned for offenders.

Others, however, show a certain incomprehension. "If there's one place with good ventilation, it's the beach, where smokers aren't common," says a resident of Mulhouse (Haut-Rhin). For Nadine, a former smoker, this measure is "one restriction too many." She advocates instead for incentives: "Putting in outdoor ashtrays or installing friendly signs asking people not to smoke in a certain area would be more useful."

Caroline, 42, also makes no secret of her opposition to this measure, which she believes is an "attack on smokers' freedom." The resident of the Grenoble metropolitan area adds: "I believe that if I don't throw my cigarette butts everywhere, I should be free to do what I want." She also doesn't understand why e-cigarettes and vapes aren't affected.

As for Françoise, 67, who describes herself as "a polite smoker" for whom cigarettes have become a "crutch," she gave us a moving account: "I never throw away my cigarette butts. I stay away from passersby. I talk to children about tobacco as if it were a poison, because it is. And yet, I feel that I too am falling to the wrong side: that of the undesirables. The old, the precarious, the sick who are a bit too visible, the anxious without a prescription," she writes, adding: "Smoking today is no longer just frowned upon, it is downright a marker of social exclusion." The Lyonnaise wonders: "When will it be forbidden to drink alcohol on terraces, a stone's throw from schools?", before concluding: "The intoxication of wine is more elegant than that of nicotine, without a doubt."