French MPs have thrown out a plan to stop the next generation ever being legally sold tobacco.

The proposal fell by 67 votes to 38 on 22 October, despite having cleared the committee stage. It would have introduced a permanent sales restriction based on date of birth, preventing those covered from buying tobacco even as adults.

The vote came a day after France’s health ministry launched a campaign against medical misinformation, pledging to challenge false claims and make reliable health advice easier to find.

Lifetime ban hits the buffers

Green MP Nicolas Thierry’s amendment to the 2027 social security financing bill proposed banning tobacco sales and free distribution to anyone born from 1 January 2009, starting on 1 January 2027.

Turning 18 would no longer open the door to legal purchases. The restriction would follow that generation throughout their lives.

Retailers breaching it would face a social contribution equivalent to five per cent of their turnover from manufactured tobacco sales.

Defending the proposal, MP Jean-Claude Raux argued that preventing young people from starting smoking would protect them from addiction. But the parliamentary debate exposed disagreements over both the policy and how it would work.

Thibault Bazin, the MP responsible for scrutinising the bill for the social affairs committee, questioned the proposed financial penalty and whether the social security budget was the right legislation for such a ban.

Health minister Stéphanie Rist supported the ambition of a tobacco-free generation but said the policy needed more development. She left MPs to decide rather than recommending a vote for or against.

National Rally MP Philippe Lottiaux warned that prohibition would fuel illicit trade. Supporter Michel Lauzzana argued that the aim was to prevent young people encountering tobacco in the first place.

Ministry takes aim at false health claims

Meanwhile, the ministry’s misinformation initiative, announced on 21 October, will monitor false health claims, assess their dangers and publish responses.

An observatory will track emerging problems, backed by a scientific council linked to France’s High Council for Public Health. A TikTok channel, Le Check-Up, will feature health professionals explaining evidence and challenging misconceptions. An interactive quiz is also planned for France’s public health information website, Santé.fr.

The ministry cited a March survey of 2,061 people aged 15 and over. Some 91 per cent said they had encountered false or misleading health information, while 42 per cent found it difficult to locate reliable information.

Its announcement highlighted misleading claims about vaccines, treatments and breast screening, but didn’t identify vaping as a specific priority.

Questions over vaping messages

The campaign comes weeks after Rist backed a European call for tighter nicotine restrictions that criticised industry claims about reduced harm.

The 6 October letter, issued on behalf of eight countries including France, accused the industry of introducing new nicotine products using aggressive marketing and “unfounded reduced-risk claims”.

It called for broad flavour restrictions, plain packaging and a freeze on new nicotine products outside the existing European regulatory framework.

France’s Fédération Addiction, responding to the national health agency ANSES’s February assessment, said the findings supported vaping’s role in helping smokers quit and reduce harm, while recognising that vaping carries health risks.