210 POTENTIALLY MASSIVE FINE...

While scouring the Internet looking for more stuff I don't really need, I spied a hysterical headline on the Liverpool Echo website. This is not an unusual event; their whole schtick seems to be just clickbait bobbins these days. They are not alone in this, to be fair, it is the state of online media these days, but that is a discussion for another day.

So the headline was 'Anyone heading to France warned of new €500 fines from this month'. Well done, Neil Shaw, Assistant Editor, your bait resulted in a click! So what are the Gendarmes going to relieve us of our precious Euros for? Rather underwhelingly, it is oral nicotine products.  

It seems the French are trying to save their citizens from themselves, as currently, 23% of them love a bifter. The government have brought in a raft of legislation that became law on 1st April to limit what they can get their hands on, including products designed to help wean smokers off nicotine, ironically.

A spokesman for a tobacco product retailer said, "Under the new law, nicotine pouches and similar oral nicotine products are completely banned in France. Despite objections from many European countries, the ban includes the sale, import, possession, and use of oral nicotine products, meaning holidaymakers could fall foul of the law just by having pouches in their possession.

"Possible consequences include fines, which some sources suggest can be around €100–€500+ on the spot, and potentially criminal penalties. If you’re going to France, don’t pack nicotine pouches at all.

"Any products containing nicotine (synthetic or natural), packaged for sale, and designed for oral use are included within the ban. This includes non-medicinal pouches, gums, lozenges, beads, pastes, strips, and liquids. The ban does not apply to smokeless tobacco products such as chewing tobacco."

Wait, what? So in an effort to reduce the number of people smoking in France, their government have banned Nicorette chewy, which helps take away cravings, but is happy for their citizens to have a gobful of chewing tobacco, which is proven to cause the Big C? Amazing work by our Gaulic cousins.  

But all this is academic as, sensibly, none of us smoke or are trying to give up smoking, so we won't have to smuggle contraband into France. So, this is a bit of a non-story, really.  

Did you like the headline, though? Was it clickbait enough? Now I have you, why not have a look around? Have you seen the CHARITY section, which explains who we are doing this for? How about the BUST RALLIES page, which has details about the rally we are joining? Whatever you do, don't click the ROUTE section under any circumstances. :)