October is Tobacco Free Month!

For the second consecutive year, France’s Tabac Info Service is organizing the Tobacco Free Month (“Mois Sans Tabac”), inspired by Stoptober in England. The French programincludes a Facebook page, the ability to share photos on Instagram, a newsletter, etc.

The campaign is also offering a free application for Android and iOS. The app is presented as a coaching tool to help users stop smoking. It also includes a #MoiSansTabac kit.

So what does the kit contain? An e-cigarette? A nicotine patch? None of the above. In fact, the kit doesn’t contain any solutions for quitting smoking, only advice. For example, there is a “Preparing to Quit” booklet, a calendar called “30 Days to Quit”, as well as a cardboard wheel to “Calculate My Savings”. It’s a shame that the campaign’s infantilizing tone is accompanied by a cruel lack of concrete solutions. In fact, Sovape’s opinion of the campaign was quite harsh. The association for the defence of vaping said it regretted that, priority is given to medical treatment as if it were a necessity. « In reality, 95% of smokers are uninterested in consulting a medical professional to quit smoking”.

E-cigarettes, an oft-ignored solution

In addition, there is a general lack of information about e-cigarettes, even though most people agree it is one of the easiest and most effective methods to quit smoking. The Stoptober website, which has inspired #MoisSansTabac, handles the subject matter in a totally different way. Here is an image from their home page:

The website immediately presents us with concrete solutions. Big surprise that the e-cigarette is the number one option. The result? 15% of English people are smokers, whereas in France the number is 36%.  

Even if vaping is not the primary focus of France’s Tobacco Free Month, it should at least be given credence. Any action that can save lives is a good one, and institutions change slowly but surely.  The concept of a Tobacco Free Month also includes the idea of forming “teams” so people can work together.

This idea didn’t escape the attention of Vap’You, which created a group called “Les Vapoteurs (E-cig users) #MoisSansTabac” on Facebook. Don’t hesitate to check out their website and participate in the campaign with the hashtag #MoisSansTabac.