Health or safety. A few days before the start of the school year, the fate of smokers in high schools is debated. Should they be allowed to smoke in the courtyard of the establishment or should they be forced out? The Ministry of Education would seem to leave the choice to the heads of establishments according to information RTL.
The Evin law prohibits smoking in places designated for collective use and the 2006 decree prohibits smoking in public places, including middle and high schools. But since the attacks of November 2015, the Ministries of Education and the Interior had temporarily authorized the creation of “specific zones” in the open-air spaces of high schools, where students could take their cigarette break. The goal is to avoid crowds in front of the establishments in order to better ensure security.
No official decision taken
But anti-tobacco associations point to a tolerance that is against the law, stressing in particular the importance of anti-smoking actions among young people, who generally start to smoke between 14 and 18 years old. “We cannot go back over 30 years of the fight against smoking. Protecting children from smoking is as important as protecting them against terrorism”, indignant Clémence Cagnat-Lardeau, director of the Alliance contre le tabac, on BFMTV.com.
At present, no official decision has yet been taken. The Ministry of National Education has consulted with the Ministries of Health and the Interior, but has not yet given a date for a position. “We are at the questions,” said the ministry, still at BFMTV.com.
Read also :
Cigarettes are making a comeback at the cinema
10 years without tobacco for healthy sinuses
The fight against smoking intensifies
Tobacco: cigarette sales increase despite the neutral package
