Limours opened the ball in 2016, with the Cendrières park (which bears its bad name).
Since then, other municipalities have followed.
So much so that with 87 tobacco-free spaces, Essonne is the most advanced department of Ile-de-France on this device, supported for nearly ten years by the League against cancer.
On May 19, the departmental council inaugurated its first site under this label: the Montauger estate in Lisses.
Enjoying a stroll in the 15 hectares of this park while "grilling one" is no longer possible.
"We will try to gradually extend this measure to all of our departmental sites," announces François Durovray, president (LR) of Essonne.
Thirty years ago, when the Evin law was passed, no one imagined that we would stop smoking in the metro, for example.
I think that culturally, we will abandon the idea of smoking in certain spaces.
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"To denormalize cigarettes"
Natacha Hiolin, director of the Essonnian committee of the League against cancer, hopes so.
“Hervé Gauthier, our president, and François Durovray co-signed a letter to encourage municipalities to create tobacco-free spaces, and we have already received several feedback.
It is not a question of banning but of denormalizing cigarettes, especially with regard to young populations.
We have thus created stencils that can be drawn around schools, colleges, high schools… ”
Lisses, May 19.
The League Against Cancer funds signs indicating tobacco-free spaces.
These will be hung on the gates of the Montauger estate to warn visitors that smoking is prohibited on the site.
LP / C.CH.
These tobacco-free spaces are outdoor areas - parks, near schools or nurseries, play areas, sports facilities - governed by municipal decree. Emmanuel Macron, in the presentation of the 4th cancer plan on February 4, explained that he wanted to rely on this device. "Tobacco is the cause of 70,000 new cases of cancer per year," said the President of the Republic. I hope that the generation that will be 20 years old in 2030 will be the first tobacco-free generation. All the deterrent levers are activated, including the price of cigarettes but also the extension of tobacco-free spaces. "
For the National League against Cancer, they make it possible to reduce the initiation of smoking among young people, but also to eliminate exposure to passive smoking, especially among children.
And to protect the environment from cigarette butts and fires.
“Effective laws protect against the dangers of tobacco smoke in enclosed spaces for collective use,” recalls the League.
But more and more countries are extending these measures to outdoor spaces.
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Read also Essonne: in Mennecy, cigarettes banned from around 28 sites
The first space in France was inaugurated ten years ago: in 2011, Nice (Alpes-Maritimes) made a beach prohibited to smokers.
“Since then, the League against cancer has labeled 3,730 tobacco-free spaces in France,” says Yana Dimitrova, prevention officer for the League.
In Ile-de-France, the Yvelines and Hauts-de-Seine do not yet have one.
Val-de-Marne has only one, Seine-Saint-Denis 29, Seine-et-Marne 35 and Paris 34, according to data from the questionnaire sent in 2020 to municipalities by the League against cancer.
But since the spring of 2019, the capital has transformed more than fifty parks and gardens into a sanctuary that is prohibited from smoking.
Mennecy, April 29.
With 28 sites, Mennecy is one of the municipalities that has deployed the most tobacco-free spaces, as here in front of a crèche.
LP / C.CH.
“These spaces are really effective,” says Xavier Fenouil, tobacco specialist and director of the League committee in Ardèche.
They contribute to the denormalization of tobacco.
While the percentage of the number of smokers is declining (
Editor's note: 24% of French people
), the collective representation is convinced that smoking is higher than reality.
But no, smoking is not the norm.
He is marginalized and we will get used to seeing him less.
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"We must preserve spaces, especially those frequented by children and young people"
However, it is not a question of "judging smokers and banning them everywhere". “But we must preserve spaces, especially those frequented by children and young people, insists Xavier Fenouil. Adolescents are particularly an important target because the entry into smoking revolves around 13-14 years. If they cannot smoke their first cigarette in parks, squares or in front of their schools, this can help protect them from this addiction. Obviously, it is a contribution among a whole panoply of preventive actions. "