France looks at introducing plain packs

The French government is to propose legislation on the introduction of standardized packaging for cigarettes, according to a story in The Local quoting a Les Echos report.

The standardized packs with their dominant graphic warnings would be aimed at deterring young people from taking up the habit.

Health Minister Marisol Touraine was due to present the proposed legislation at a cabinet meeting today before announcing it at a press conference.

“It denormalizes tobacco, like the ban on smoking in public places that has not changed consumption significantly, but has changed the order of things,” said Bertrand Dautzenberg, president of the French Office for the Prevention of Smoking.

Touraine’s bill would seek also to extend the country’s public smoking ban to include the use of electronic cigarettes.