Editing Culture of France (section)

===Tobacco and drugs===
The cigarette smoking age is 18 years. According to a widespread cliché, smoking has been part of French culture – actually [[List of countries by cigarette consumption per capita|figures]] indicate that in terms of consumption per capita, France is only the 60th country out of 121.

France, from 1 February 2007, tightened the existing ban on smoking in public places found in the 1991 Évin law: Law n°91-32 of 10 January 1991, containing a variety of measures against alcoholism and tobacco consumption.

Smoking is now banned in all public places (stations, museums, etc.); an exception exists for special smoking rooms fulfilling drastic conditions, see below. A special exemption was made for cafés and restaurants, clubs, casinos, bars, etc. which ended, 1 January 2008.<ref>[http://www.legifrance.gouv.fr/texteconsolide/SQHYN.htm Decree n°2006-1386 over 15 November 2006] taken as application of [http://www.legifrance.gouv.fr/WAspad/UnArticleDeCode?commun=&code=CSANPUNL.rcv&art=L3511-7 article L3511-7] of the Public Health Code, banning smoking in public places.</ref> Opinion polls suggest 70% of people support the ban.<ref>{{cite news | title=France to ban smoking in public | url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/6032125.stm | access-date=9 October 2006 | work=BBC News | date=8 October 2006}}</ref> Previously, under the former implementation rules of the 1991 Évin law, restaurants, cafés etc. just had to provide smoking and non-smoking sections, which in practice were often not well separated.

Under the new regulations, smoking rooms are allowed, but are subjected to very strict conditions: they may occupy at most 20% of the total floor space of the establishment and their size may not be more than 35 m<sup>2</sup>; they need to be equipped with separate ventilation which replaces the full volume of air ten times per hour; the air pressure of the smoking room must constantly be lower than the pressure in the contiguous rooms; they have doors that close automatically; no service can be provided in the smoking rooms; cleaning and maintenance personnel may enter the room only one hour after it was last used for smoking.

Popular French cigarette brands include [[Gauloises]] and [[Marlboro (cigarette)|Marlboro]].

The possession, sale and use of [[cannabis (drug)|cannabis]] (predominantly Moroccan [[hashish]]) is illegal in France. Since 1 March 1994, the penalties for cannabis use are from two months to a year and/or a fine, while possession, cultivation or trafficking of the drug can be punished much more severely, up to ten years. According to a 1992 survey by SOFRES, 4.7&nbsp;million French people ages 12–44 have smoked cannabis at least once in their lives.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cedro-uva.org/lib/boekhout.france.html|title=Cannabis in France|website=Cedro-uva.org|access-date=21 August 2017}}</ref>