From Clichy to Snapchat, puffs continue to circulate illegally. A prosperous parallel trade, rechargeable models with blurred limits appear, while public policies are struggling to stem the phenomenon.
Prohibited puffs but always easy to find
In Paris as in the suburbs, just click or good contact to get it. Quoted by Le Parisien, a specialized seller of Clichy recognizes it without detour: “Online, they are not bothering at all to sell this kind of thing “. In his shop, disposable models have disappeared, but demand is intact. According to him, it is often very young consumers who have started with these disposable products and seek to continue their consumption. The electronic cigarette, he recalls, was designed to replace tobacco among dependent smokers, not to initiate adolescents.
According to the French Observatory for Drugs and Addictive Trends (OFDT), in 2022, one in five and 44 % college students had already vapoted. The temptation is such that some young people even seek more dosed models, some even asking for puffs with 50 mg per liter, while the legal limit is set at 20 mg. And that the risks of dependence increases far beyond this figure.
A prosperous black market, especially on social networks. “”They can find them in some grocery stores or tobacco, but it is especially on Snapchat that the black market has developed “continues the seller.
The Directorate General for Competition, Consumption and the Repression of Frauds (DGCCRF) claims to have checked more than 160 establishments, 13 of which continued to sell puffs illegally.
Rechargeable or not, a bypass of the law
If most brands have replaced their disposable models with rechargeable alternatives, the border remains unclear. The National Committee against Smoking (CNCT) Alert: Some products are actually disguised disposable, since it is impossible to change the cartridge once empty. A practice that maintains ambiguity and promotes rapid consumption.
On the stalls and online, models arise as rechargeable while only the battery can be. In fact, part of the product remains for single use. A bypass of the law because the rechargeable models remain authorized in France.
Another point the sale of these products is prohibited for minors, but consumers interviewed are almost unanimous: they have never been asked for their identity card …
Ineffective public policies pointed out
The European ban on puffs, validated in October 2024, entered into force in February 2025 in France. But in the field, the effects are long overdue. The controls exist, but demand remains high and the parallel market prosperous despite the law, however severe: sell or offer free electronic cigarettes disposable to minors is liable in France to a fine of up to 100,000 euros, or even 200,000 euros in the event of recurrence.
For the CNCT, it is now urgent to go “even further” and to apply the measures provided for as part of the national tobacco program 2023-2027: reduce the number of aromas and impose neutral packaging in particular.