Public Health France (SPF) presented its report on smoking in France on Tuesday. It turns out that one in four French people smoke regularly. And Occitanie climbs to second place on the podium for the biggest tobacco consumers in France, with 28.9% of the population declaring that they smoke. How to explain this high figure? Response elements.
We smoke a lot in Occitania. The prevalence of daily smoking is 30.5% for men in the region and 26.6% for women. They would be more sensitive to nicotine, according to tobacco expert Sébastien Fleury from Toulouse. Here too, women smokers are the most numerous, a record that can be explained by different elements.
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Public Health of France (SPF) explains in its report that differences between territories are explained by cultural differences: the image of tobacco is not the same everywhere, socio-economic factors and local investments in the fight against smoking. In Occitania we have to look at socio-economic factors to try to explain these figures.
Ease of access to cheaper tobacco could be one of the explanations. The region borders Spain and Andorra, two countries known for attractive prices. The study reveals that in the region the proportion of cross-border purchases during the last purchase of cigarettes or tobacco was slightly higher than the national average (20% compared to 15% in 2021), but did not reach the levels recorded in Hauts-de-France (38%) or Grand Est (55%).
Low-educated low-income smokers
Furthermore, this research shows a typical profile of smokers. According to Public Health France, being male, being younger than 60, having a level of education lower than or equal to a bachelor’s degree, and having a lower level of income would increase the prevalence of daily smoking. However, Occitanie includes areas where the average level of income is quite low, as is the level of education.
Sébastien Fleury explains, for example, that certain departments of the former Languedoc-Roussillon region are “priority areas in terms of public health”. Furthermore, “the more insecurity and uncertainty about the future, the more we smoke because tobacco is a momentary pleasure, like a crutch that keeps us afloat,” in the words of a tobacco addiction expert. In this everyday population, how can the long-term risks of smoking be taken into account?
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But, on the positive side, “more than half of smokers say they want to quit.” Number of received calls 3989, no tabac-info-service.fr and this is evidenced by the waiting lists for tobacco services. “We have to tell ourselves that it’s never too late to stop, that there are always benefits, sometimes immediate, and all the people who come for help tell us that it’s easier than they thought,” concludes Sébastien Fleury.