French smokers unite against curbs

French smokers have formed a lobby to "defend their rights" against what they perceive as unfair curbs imposed by the state, the group's leaders said Sunday.

The Union for the Rights of Adult Smokers (UDFA) says it represents a potential 12.5 million voters and intends to fight against the spread of no-smoking zones or rising cigarette prices.

"We want to defend our freedom," chairwoman Nathalie Masseron told AFP.

"We are being barred from cafe terraces, some want to ban us from parks with children, some hotels are non-smoking, soon a smoker won't be able to rent a flat and there's even talk of banning smoking while you drive," she said.

With the first round of France's legislative election on June 10, the new group is hoping to catch the attention of the country's politicians.

Masseron said there were an average of 21,600 smokers in every constituency - "which is a lot when you know that most MPs are elected by a margin smaller than 500 votes".

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'On average, one regular smoker in every two dies prematurely from his or her smoking habits... Half of those who die are between 35 and 69-years-old,' the French health ministry said in a statement issued jointly with the National Institute of Health Education and Prevention (INPES).

Smoking causes a third of all cancers in France, according to the statement, which was posted on an Internet site set up by the ministry and the INPES as part of a national stop-smoking campaign, launched in March 2003.

Lung cancer is a particular danger among smokers and those forced to inhale their noxious fumes, including children.

In France, 90 percent of all lung cancers are caused by actually smoking and a further 5 per cent by passive smoking, the statement stressed.

There is already a law in France against smoking in workplaces, airports, metro and rail stations and in some parts of restaurants. But it is widely ignored.

The Government is reinforcing its anti-smoking campaign by increasing the price of tobacco by 8 to 10 per cent as of January 5, the third rise in the space of a year.

According to Masseron, the social cost of smoking is half the amount - 13.6 billion euros ($17 billion) - raked in by the state thanks to taxes on tobacco products.

Government statistics say 73,000 French people die every year from smoking-related illnesses.

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