Young British people could soon encounter closed doors in tobacco shops. On Tuesday April 17, the House of Commons voted in favor of a bill aimed at making the purchase of tobacco illegal for life for anyone born on or after January 1, 2009. In the event of final adoption of the text, these young people, aged 15 today, would be the first tobacco-free generation in the country. From 2027, the United Kingdom would increase the legal age for purchasing tobacco by one year every year. The ban would not concern the act of smoking itself. An Englishman affected by this law will be able to continue to buy tobacco abroad to smoke it on his territory.
The legislator should show that the general and absolute ban for reasons of public health is proportionate to the restriction of freedoms that this implies
Benjamin Morel, academic and constitutionalist
Could such a measure be applied in France, where nearly 12 million people, including 15.6% of 17-year-olds, smoke daily?
“I remain very doubtful, a priori, about the possibility of pronouncing such a ban
,” comments constitutionalist Benjamin Morel. Two questions would arise, according to him, to the judges of the Constitutional Council.
“There is first that of freedom, that is to say of restricting certain age categories and not others while adults are considered emancipated
,” explains the law lecturer. public at the University of Paris-2-Panthéon-Assas.
A proportional law?
Secondly, the question of proportionality would arise. In France, tobacco is responsible for 75,000 deaths each year. It is the leading cause of early mortality, the leading cause of cancer mortality, but also the leading cause of preventable cardiovascular mortality.
“Tobacco is harmful, of course. But, even if it creates an habit-forming effect, it does not produce a socially harmful effect, except, possibly, passive smoking. We harm ourselves, not, or little, harm others
,” believes Benjamin Morel.
Didier Maus, professor of Constitutional Law at Aix-Marseille University, agrees:
“We can individually prohibit people from doing a certain number of things thanks to criminal convictions. But I don’t see how we could justify the introduction of a general ban for an age group that will evolve.” “This lifetime ban for a certain category of the population seems complicated to implement and contrary to the principle of individual freedom
,” adds Didier Maus.
Ultimately,
“the legislator should show that the general and absolute ban for reasons of public health is proportionate to the restriction of freedoms that this implies”,
concludes Benjamin Morel, who specifies that its approval would be subject to the appreciation of the judges .
The New Zealand precedent
Other countries, before the United Kingdom, tried to introduce such a law. In 2022, the New Zealand parliament, for example, would introduce a ban on the sale of cigarettes to anyone born after 2008. Last November, citing fears that a vast black market for the sale of tobacco would be set up and the lack of to gain in tax revenue, the new government has backpedaled.
In France, yet another three-year plan (2024-2027) against smoking was presented last December by Aurélien Rousseau, then Minister of Health. The latter is based on two pillars: an increase in prices (13 euros per pack of cigarettes in 2026) and the multiplication of places where smoking will now be prohibited, in particular on the beach, in the park, in the forest or around schools. .