French parliament votes to ban disposable e-cigarettes

The French parliament on Thursday voted to ban single-use electronic cigarettes, considered to be gateways to tobacco addiction for teenagers and harmful to the environment. The bill was approved by the French parliament with a final vote in the Senate upper house.

France now becomes the second EU country after Belgium to have introduced such a ban. Pre-filled disposable e-cigarettes, known as "puffs", are popular with young people, can have a high nicotine content, come in many flavours.  The legislation was earlier approved by the National Assembly lower house.

The measure is part of a wider government anti-smoking campaign. Health authorities in France and Belgium said that chronic nicotine consumption is especially harmful to the adolescent brain and could encourage use of other drugs.