Strasbourg city council voted unanimously on June 25 in favor of banning smoking in its green spaces. From January 2019, smokers in these areas will be fined.
After having introduced a ban on smoking in its playgrounds in 2014, the municipality of Strasbourg voted on June 25 in favor of extending this measure to all its green spaces, forests and parks included, as of July 1. This plan, already active in the Citadel Park, will apply to the city’s other large parks, before being extended to all public green spaces.
Smokers will be fined from 2019
If the city is stepping up its fight against smoking, it is because the inhabitants are in favor. According to a survey, 71% of non-smokers and 57% of smokers support the ban on smoking in all city parks. The inhabitants will initially be made aware of this ban throughout 2018 thanks to the intervention of mediators. sent by the regional health agency (ARS) and volunteers from thea League against cancer, then will incur a fine of 68 euros from January 2019 if they smoke or throw a butt in a green space.
“The objective is also environmental”, explains to 20 minutes Christel Kohler, deputy mayor in charge of cities in nature and foster cities. “From an environmental standpoint, cigarette filters thrown into nature take 12 years to decompose and a single butt with its chemical components can pollute up to 500 liters of drinking water “.
But the stakes are also health. “Tobacco is a major determinant of health, of course for cancer (…) but also for cardiovascular diseases in general, for respiratory insufficiencies”, points out the deputy mayor in charge of Health, Alexandre Feltz. “We are at too high a rate in France, we are nearly 30% smokers while other countries are 15% or 12%.”
“We must stop all exposure”
Specifically, the dangers of smoking are present in the short and long term. In the short term, smoking can cause spasms of the arteries, that is, their sudden narrowing, the formation of clots and the appearance of heart rhythm disturbances. These disorders can themselves be responsible for myocardial infarction, stroke or sudden death. In the long term, it is the progressive degradation of the arteries that threatens the smoker. When exposed to other risk factors like excess cholesterol, diabetes or high blood pressure, this phenomenon can be increased.
Tobacco can also be the cause of multiple cancers (lung, throat, mouth, lips, pancreas, kidneys, bladder, uterus, esophagus). But also cardiovascular diseases (myocardial infarction, cerebrovascular accidents, arteritis of the lower limbs, aneurysms, arterial hypertension) and erectile dysfunction.
“To protect yourself from the harmful effects of tobacco, reducing consumption is not sufficient, you must stop all exposure”, insists Professor Daniel Thomas, honorary president of the FFC and vice-president of the Alliance against tobacco. Even passive smoking is a threat to health. It increases the risk of myocardial infarction by 25%. In France, smoking remains the leading cause of preventable death despite everything, with around 73,000 deaths each year.
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