Weighing less than a gram, cigarettes nevertheless weigh heavily on public health. With more than 4,000 harmful substances, this invention smokes the lungs of almost one in five humans. Every year, more than eight million people die. To fight against smoking, British MPs voted on Tuesday for a bill which aims to create a “tobacco-free generation”. Because if the law is definitively adopted, young people born after 2009 will never be able to legally buy tobacco.
“The average age of starting smoking is between 17 and 18 in almost all countries in the world; people do not start smoking at 25,” emphasizes Fabienne El-Khoury, researcher in social epidemiology at Inserm. “Prevention efforts must focus on younger people because smoking begins in adolescence. However, it is much easier to avoid becoming a smoker than to stop smoking,” adds Maria Melchior, epidemiologist at the National Institute of Health and Medical Research (Inserm).
The French still addicted
Because, from the first puff of a cigarette, it is difficult to do without it. “Nicotine is a drug that is extremely addictive, just like heroin,” recalls Karine Gallopel-Morvan, university professor at the School of Advanced Studies in Public Health (EHESP). In France, despite a drop in daily smoking and tobacco experimentation among young people, they are still more than 15% smoking every day at 17.
But, with almost a third of smokers, France remains one of the worst performers in Europe. The United Kingdom has succeeded in reducing the prevalence of tobacco. “In these countries, smoking affects a little more than 10% of the population, creating a tobacco-free generation is therefore possible,” notes Karine Gallopel-Morvan. By “targeting the window where young people start smoking, the United Kingdom could well succeed,” agrees Fabienne El-Khoury. British MPs are not pioneers in this area.
Ambush lobbies
In 2022, New Zealand passed a similar law, banning the sale of cigarettes to anyone born after 2008. However, the new conservative New Zealand government backpedaled at the end of 2023. “This new government, more liberal and more open to the arguments of economic actors, tipped the project over,” says Karine Gallopel-Morvan. The project also provided for the closure of most places of sale. This “great public health victory”, in the words of Fabienne El-Khoury, was therefore buried as the British project could be in turn. Because its success is far from assured.
Beyond pressure from manufacturers, London will have to strengthen its anti-tobacco strategies to succeed, as it aims, in getting its population out of this addiction. “The sale of tobacco to young people is already prohibited but we still need to check the age of young people who come to tobacco shops,” illustrates Maria Melchior. Because new laws, no matter how positive they may be, are useless if they are not respected. “If measures such as strong and regular price increases or the increase in tobacco-free places are effective, it has been proven, they are however not respected in France,” notes Karine Gallopel-Morvan.
Civics, political will and an island
It’s hard to contradict her when you come across travelers (and sometimes controllers) greedily puffing on their cigarettes on all the station platforms in the country. The flagship measure of the British government’s project, with its famous “tobacco-free generation”, cannot therefore come alone. “An isolated measure is of no use, we must support,” insists the university professor at the School of Advanced Studies in Public Health, citing in particular help with smoking cessation or even monitoring the ban on the sale of tobacco. to minors.
In France, “there is also a tobacco-free generation project but the measures are not as strong”, slips Maria Melchior who recalls that smoking has stagnated in the country since 2017. In France, the tobacco-free generation is not is probably not yet born. But our neighbors could well, thanks to strong measures put in place for years, a more integrated civic spirit (have you seen their station platforms?) and an advantageous geography (yes, it is more difficult to smuggling on an island), succeed in their bet. And, at the same time, save 80,000 lives each year.