TobaccoReporter logo

Tag: French

  • French-Speaking Countries Gather to Discuss THR Strategies

    French-Speaking Countries Gather to Discuss THR Strategies

    The 3rd Francophone Forum on Nicotine was held yesterday (June 9) in Paris, bringing together doctors, researchers, economists, and public health experts from multiple French-speaking countries to discuss smoking addiction and harm reduction strategies. Organized as an annual public health and academic forum focused on tobacco control, the event centered on improving understanding of nicotine dependence and expanding evidence-based cessation approaches beyond abstinence-only models.

    Speakers emphasized craving-driven addiction, gaps between clinical guidelines and real-world quitting experiences, and the need for broader use of harm-reduction tools such as nicotine alternatives. The forum concluded with the signing of a manifesto calling for stronger science-based tobacco policy, improved smoker support systems, and stricter protections for minors while integrating harm reduction into national and regional public health strategies.

  • Report: 200 Influencers Illegally Promoted Nicotine in France

    Report: 200 Influencers Illegally Promoted Nicotine in France

    More than 200 social media influencers have illegally promoted nicotine products from tobacco companies to millions of people in the last five years, according to a report from the French Alliance Against Tobacco (ACT). Promoting tobacco products in France was outlawed in 1991 and expanded in 2016. In 2023, a new French law specified that online influencers cannot directly or indirectly promote nicotine products.

    The ACT report, however, found that such content had been promoted by 229 French-speaking influencers who participated in competitions, events, and partnerships with nicotine companies, reaching 24 million people since 2019. Most of the influencers had between 1,000 to 20,000 followers, allowing the companies to “promote their products in a subtle and indirect way,” the report said.

    An example cited in the report said Imperial Brands invited 52 influencers to festive events to promote a product containing nicotine.

    “It is unacceptable that the tobacco industry continues to circumvent the law to promote its products on social media, with complete impunity,” Marion Catellin, the director of ACT, said. “Their goal is not to create a ‘smoke-free world,’ but to attract young people and make them addicted to nicotine.”