Smoking ban plan for Parisian park

SMOKING will soon be banned in a public park in Paris, in line with government plans to make lighting up in public illegal.

If it proves popular, it may be rolled out across other public spaces in the capital.

The capital’s mayor Anne Hidalgo said on RTL’s Grand Jury programme last night that the ban would come into force in one park at the same time as a programme intended to educate smokers about the dangers of cigarettes is launched.

She said there was an environmental as well as health issue at stake. Every year, 350 tonnes of cigarette butts are collected from the streets of Paris.

Le Parisien has reported that the park is to in the city’s 14th arrondissement, where councillor Valérie Maupas, has already proposed a blanket ban on cigarettes.

Earlier this summer, health minister Marisol Touraine announced tough new anti-smoking measures, and plans are in place to make smoking e-cigarettes in certain public places.

Every year, 73,000 people die in France of smoking-related diseases, despite tax hikes that have pushed the price of even the cheapest pack of 20 up to about €7.