Brit holiday warning as major destination BANS nicotine pouches – and visitors face ‘terrifying' six-figure fine & jail

The Irish Sun

27-05-2025

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 Europe — and experts have branded it 'terrifying' and 'completely disproportionate'.
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Brits face jail in France for nicotine pouches under a tough new law
Credit: Getty
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Tourists risk getting a £320,000 fine and five years in prison for carrying pouches
Credit: Getty
Richard Crosby, UK director of the campaign group Considerate Pouchers, slammed the penalties, warning thousands of British tourists could now be treated like drug traffickers.
He said: 'How can carrying a nicotine pouch be worse than carrying heroin and result in going to prison — 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 police an 'impossible task' of enforcement.
Read more on smoking
'The messaging for people using pouches instead of cigarettes in France — 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 France the strictest country in Europe for pouch control —
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 Spain.
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The harshest penalties in France previously applied to possession of drugs 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.
Disposable vapes will be banned across UK by next summer to stop Britain's kids from getting hooked
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 Champions League fixtures will now be breaking the law if they pack pouches — along with rugby stars, runners and cyclists competing in French events like the Tour de France and the French Open, 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 Health 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'.
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The ban could catch out 13 million Brits who visit France each year
Credit: Getty
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Experts slammed French pouch penalties as 'terrifying and disproportionate'
Credit: Getty
Other EU countries like Germany, Austria, Belgium 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 smoking 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.
Sweden 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 vaping and pouches offer more success.
Yet under France's new rules, carrying a pouch is now legally more dangerous than carrying heroin.
Smoking vs. vaping
VAPING has been touted as an effective tool to help people quit smoking.
Though vaping is substantially less harmful than smoking, the habit isn't completely harmless and comes with its own set of risks.
The NHS only recommends it for adult smokers, to support quitting smoking.
GP and author Dr Philippa Kaye explained to The Sun that the differences between vaping and smoking - and whether one is better than the other - is "complicated".
"In a nutshell, vaping is better than smoking, but breathing air is better than vaping at all."
Vaping exposes users to far fewer toxins - and at lower levels - than smoking cigarettes.
Switching to vaping significantly reduces your exposure to toxins that can cause cancer, lung disease, and diseases of the heart and circulation like heart attack and stroke.
These diseases are not caused by nicotine, which is relatively harmless to health. But research has still linked vaping to a higher risk of failure and lung disease.
Health risks of cigarettes
Smokers are more likely than nonsmokers to develop heart disease, stroke, and lung cancer
Smokers are at greater risk for diseases that affect the heart and blood vessels
Smoking can cause lung disease by damaging your airways and the small air sacs
Smoking can cause cancer almost anywhere in your body
It affects overall health too, such as your mouth, eyes, immune system and fertility
Health risks of vaping
They can cause side effects such as throat and mouth irritation, headache, cough and feeling sick
They could lead to tooth decay
They could damage heart health
They could cause lung disease
They could slow brain development
Read more on how vaping can affect your health
Sources: NHS, CDC