This relentless rise is no accident. Linked to inflation since 2023, tobacco taxes climb automatically, justified by 75,000 smoking-related deaths every year. France is turning the screw: public smoking bans now extend to parks, beaches and school areas, backed by fines for lighting up or even dropping a butt. Yet cheaper packs just across the border fuel cross‑border runs and smuggling, exposing the stark tension between public health ambitions and the everyday reality of addiction and inequality.
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