BRITS heading to France have been warned they could face five years in jail and a £320,000 fine simply for carrying nicotine pouches under radical new laws.
The crackdown, which kicked in on Monday, introduces the toughest nicotine pouch ban in — and experts have branded it “terrifying”;; and “completely disproportionate”;;.
Richard Crosby, UK director of the campaign group Considerate Pouchers, slammed the penalties, warning thousands of British tourists could now be treated like .
He said: “How can carrying a nicotine pouch be worse than carrying heroin and result in going to — let alone for five years?”;;
Crosby added: “The penalties being proposed by French authorities are terrifying, completely disproportionate and make no sense.”;;
He warned the move would turn well-meaning holidaymakers into criminals overnight and hand French an “impossible task”;; of enforcement.
“The messaging for people using pouches instead of cigarettes in — other than they are considered criminals — seems to be the government would prefer it if you smoked,”;; he said.
“It is a huge, backwards step.”;;
The hardline law — which now makes the strictest country in Europe for pouch control — , a move expected to push more Brits toward pouches as a smoke-free alternative.
Already, around 530,000 Brits use nicotine pouches — double the number in 2020 — and many could now be unknowingly breaking the law in France, the second most popular holiday spot after .
The harshest penalties in France previously applied to possession of like heroin and cocaine, which carry a maximum one-year jail term and £3,200 fine — a fraction of the punishment now facing pouch users.
The new ban is also likely to cause a stir in the sports world, where pouch use is widespread among elite athletes.
A Professional Footballers’ Association (PFA) study found one in five male pros use nicotine pouches to boost focus and performance.
Premier League players travelling to France for fixtures will now be breaking the law if they pack pouches — along with rugby stars, runners and cyclists competing in French events like the and , which began Sunday.
Critics say the ban will also fuel a black market, penalise harm reduction, and catch tourists out.
Crosby added: “The ban would turn ordinary Brits into lawbreakers... and leave French police with an impossible task of enforcement due to the high number of British tourists using pouches.”;;
Despite the backlash, French officials moved ahead after notifying the European Commission in February.
As no objections were raised within three months, the policies kicked in on May 26.
The ban prohibits the production, possession, import, export, sale and use of oral nicotine products — which the French Public Code now categorises as “venomous substances”;;.
The French government justified the law by citing the “attractiveness, harmfulness, dependence and method of use”;; of pouches and insisted the blanket ban was “justified in order to achieve the objective of preserving public health”;;.
But the French Council of State itself branded the legislation “disproportionate”;;.
Other EU countries like , Austria, and Luxembourg have imposed restrictions on pouches — but none have criminalised personal use with such severe penalties.
Back in the UK, pouches will soon be restricted to over-18s under the upcoming Tobacco and Vapes Bill, now moving through the House of Lords.
Small businesses have warned parts of the bill — especially advertising bans on nicotine replacement products — could backfire, harming sales and potentially increasing rates and illicit trade.
While nicotine pouches remain controversial, evidence suggests they are among the safest nicotine products available.
The 2022 Murkett scale gave cigarettes a maximum health risk score of 100, cigars 40.4 and vapes 2.7 — but rated pouches just 0.1, nearly negligible.
has already achieved “smoke-free”;; status by embracing alternatives like pouches, which harm reduction advocates say should be part of the solution — not banned outright.
Recent UK research found one million smokers a year try quitting using ineffective methods like willpower and patches — while and pouches offer more success.
Yet under France’s new rules, carrying a pouch is now legally more dangerous than carrying heroin.
