Posters showing a down jacket, full of running gear or an electric guitar and a question: “And you, what is the tobacco industry depriving you of?
".
Through its new awareness campaign, the Alliance Against Tobacco (ACT) intends to open the eyes of smokers to the effects of cigarette consumption on their purchasing power.
"The objective is to show that smoking is not only a subject of public health but also an issue of social justice, at a time of inflation and the energy crisis", explains to the Parisian Marion Catellin, director of the ACT.
In addition to blackening their lungs, smokers deprive themselves of an average of 207 euros per month, which they spend on the purchase of their cigarettes.
A substantial sum that forces them to reduce their leisure budget, dig into their savings or give up essential expenses such as food, health costs or hygiene products.
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Especially since the ACT study shows that the French are not all equal in the face of this addiction.
"Today, there are almost twice as many daily smokers among the third of the French population whose income is lowest, compared to those with the highest income", points out the report.
There are several reasons for this: the “emotional crutch” effect of cigarettes in stressful and difficult situations such as job search or its “socializing function” which is particularly sought after by the most disadvantaged.
Free nicotine substitutes
However, among people living below the poverty line, smoking can represent up to 30% of household expenses.
"This is a double penalty for these people: beyond worsening health inequalities, tobacco consumption widens social inequalities", summarizes Marion Catellin.
Faced with this observation, the ACT sent the public authorities a series of recommendations.
Among them: 100% reimbursement by Health Insurance of nicotine substitutes (today reimbursed at 65%), welcome support when the smoker makes the decision to quit.
"If the prescription was fully reimbursed, more than three quarters of smokers believe that they would be more motivated to quit," say the authors of the study.
The ACT also wishes to test a system of coordinated financial incentives for quitting smoking at the national level.
A device whose effectiveness has been proven in the United Kingdom and the United States, according to the association.
Finally, the campaign intends to incriminate cigarette producers through this ironic advertising message: "The tobacco industry wishes you a bad year 2023".
“The idea is also to question the legitimacy of tobacco companies who sell death to one out of two consumers,” recalls the director of the ACT.
Because if some consumers ruin themselves to meet their need to smoke, the tobacco industry generates 21.6 billion euros in sales each year in France alone.
