In the new season of “Emily in Paris”, a character – Luc – assures that Emmanuel Macron has banned the practice of “Dry January” in France.
This is false, although the government never supported the initiative, to the great displeasure of prevention associations.
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The information examined by the Verifiers
Did the President of the Republic intervene to ban “Dry January” in France? This is what the series “Emily in Paris”, back on Netflix since this summer, suggests. In episode 3 of this new season, a colleague of Emily assures her for information purposes that “Dry January has been banned in France, on the orders of President Macron.” Before advising him, in front of his questioning look, to “look on Google”…
5 million French people sober in January
For four seasons, the series has been telling the adventures of Emily, a young American who falls in love with the French capital, with a great deal of clichés – not always true – about Parisian life. This is the case on this specific point: Emmanuel Macron has not banned “Sober January” (better known by its English name), nor any other public health initiative aimed at limiting alcohol consumption. As proof, the “alcohol-free month” has taken place every year in France since 2020 and the last edition in 2024 even brought together five million people.
On the other hand, the government does not officially support this approach. In reality, the Ministry of Health does not give any instructions for monitoring Dry January. Nor does it finance its promotion, which is carried out exclusively by associations. Questioned in December by TF1info, the Addiction Federation rightly deplored the “denial” of the state which “still seems to be missed.”
A campaign buried in 2019
In 2019, Santé publique France (SPF) had planned to launch a campaign similar to that seen in the United Kingdom, before the initiative was abandoned after “government arbitrations”according to West France. In 2020, the public health body took charge of “the scientific evaluation of the deployment of the device”, can be read on its site, and is limited to relaying the event “via its national system of information, guidance and personalized assistance Alcohol info service”as reported in the regional daily. When contacted, the Ministry of Health had not yet responded to us.
This lack of official support was seen by associations as a sign of the weight of wine lobbies in the country, as here in this 2019 report. And made the comparison with the government’s investment in the fight against smoking. Every year in November, and for the past ten years, the “no tobacco month” campaign has taken place under the aegis of the authorities.
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