A policy “going against the grain” of public health issues
At the opening of the debate, Sophie de Menthon pointed out what she considers to be a major contradiction of the French authorities: “There are 75,000 deaths per year due to tobacco. It is the leading cause of preventable mortality. However, France systematically makes the wrong decisions.”
For the company director, the desire to ban oral nicotine pouches, such as pouches, illustrates the blindness of the public authorities. “These products help to reduce tobacco consumption, without combustion, tar or smoke. And yet, the government is preparing to ban them,” she protests.
The French exception, a counter-model?
While several European countries, such as the United Kingdom, Italy and Greece, have authorised and even promoted nicotine pouches as an alternative to cigarettes, France is an exception. “We are the last in the class. The dunce of Europe,” says Sophie de Menthon, who readily cites the example of Sweden. Thanks to oral nicotine products, including nicotine pouches, Sweden is expected to soon reach a smoking prevalence of 5%, and thus become the first “smoke-free” nation in the European Union.
Scientific studies, according to her, confirm the effectiveness of these products in a risk reduction strategy. In the United States, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has even recognized that nicotine pouches pose a much lower risk than conventional cigarettes.
The failure of a prohibition-based model
For Sophie de Menthon, France is stubbornly pursuing an ineffective repressive logic. “We have been piling up cancer plans for decades, without tangible results. Meanwhile, other countries are moving forward, innovating and adapting their policies to reality.”
It points out that France remains one of the countries most affected by smoking in Western Europe, with 15 million smokers, including 12 million daily. The prevalence rate is 31.3%. At the same time, the parallel market is thriving, with nearly €7 billion in tax revenue lost every year.
A question of health, but also of life at work
Far from limiting her remarks to the health sphere alone, Sophie de Menthon broadens the debate to life in the workplace. “Employees regularly go down to smoke. This interrupts their activity and generates waste. Encouraging the use of smoke-free products would not only improve their health, but also their productivity.”
She denounces an incoherent policy, citing as examples the recent ban on disposable electronic cigarettes and the proposed ban on nicotine pouches. “And afterwards, are we surprised that nothing changes?”
Changing course before it’s too late
Faced with this situation, the president of Ethic calls for a radical change of strategy. “We have to get out of this logic of prohibition at all costs. It doesn’t work. This only fuels trafficking.”
It pleads for a real harm reduction policy, like that practiced in several European countries. Nicotine pouches, she insists, are not a miracle solution, but an effective tool to help smokers quit. “They are infinitely less harmful than cigarettes. For dependent people, it is a precious help.”
In a context where public health policies are increasingly scrutinized, Sophie de Menthon calls on the government to follow the example of countries that have bet on alternatives. “It’s time to give smokers a real chance to quit smoking. To continue to reject alternative products is to persist in failure.”
His message is clear: reducing smoking requires innovation, not systematic banning.
