The start of November is also the start of tobacco-free month. An operation by the French Ministry of Health and Public Health, the principle of which is to challenge smokers: stop for a month. Because one month without tobacco increases the chances of quitting permanently by five. More than 110,000 people have already registered for this ninth edition of tobacco-free month.
In front of Montparnasse station, Monique and Nelly smoke a cigarette before taking their train to Toulouse. Five hours of travel without being able to smoke is already a long time for Monique, addicted to cigarettes for almost fifty years. “I don’t think I ever stoppedexplains Monique. Afterwards, I decreased, especially when I had children, but I never stopped.”
“I never had the will or the desire, it doesn’t matter, even though I know it’s not right.”
Monique, smokerat franceinfo
On the other hand, his daughter, Nelly, tried several times: “I stopped for pregnancies and then I stopped for a year and a half with hypnosis. Patches and gums don’t work for me. Well, hypnosis worked for a while and then that’s it. .” The patches were much more successful on his father. He hasn’t smoked since the late 1990s. “The patches, you have to start strong and reduce little by little, so it will be spread over several months and it has a cost”explains Nelly.
But the treatment of nicotine substitutes has evolved. Particularly since 2019, for chewing gums, sprays, tablets and patches. “Even for a large box which gives you around a hundred tablets and which costs around 25 euros, this is generally fully covered by prescriptionexplains Elsa Aucé, from the Saint-Placide pharmacy. The 65% is the social security part. The remaining 35% is the patients’ mutual insurance companies. In general, mutual insurance companies cover this type of treatment quite well.”
Without a prescription, for example, it costs nearly 25 euros for a box of patches, which represents a budget of 150 euros for six months. Even if these substitutes can be reimbursed, this is not enough to convince Fabien to stop. For him, it’s not a question of money: “I’ve never had the real motivation yet. However, there are the little ones who see me smoking, they don’t like it, etc. But no, I’m not there yet, really.”
The rise in the price of cigarettes, on the other hand, pushes him to reduce his consumption. On average, a package costs almost 12 euros. According to Public Health France, tobacco is the leading cause of avoidable mortality in our country with 75,000 deaths per year. And for those who want to quit and need help, there is a telephone number: 39 89.
