Paris - France will ban smoking in beaches, public gardens and nearby schools starting July 1 to protect young people from tobacco and limit the impact of smokers on them.

"Tobacco must disappear," Health Minister Catherine Vautrin said in an interview with French newspaper Ouest-France on Thursday. Vautrin stressed that the freedom of smoking "ends where children breathe clean air."

Vautrin said secondary schools will also be affected by the ban, especially to prevent "students from smoking before school."

The number of average smokers, especially young people who are swollen on the cafe terrace, will hit any American visitor.

However, in recent years, tobacco use has actually been declining. Smoking has been its lowest level since the 1990s, with 23% of the adult population reporting daily. Tobacco use is also falling in young people – young people who are only 17 years old reported smoking, compared with 25% six years ago.

The expansion of smoke-free zones is one of the measures outlined in the national plan to reduce tobacco use and reach the Tobacco Free Generation by 2032. Failure to comply with the ban could result in a fine of €135.

1,600 volunteer cities and towns have established nearly 7,000 smoke-free areas, including beaches, parks, ski slopes and areas around schools.

The new measures have strong public support. According to a survey conducted by the French Anti-Cancer Alliance, 78% of respondents want to cancel cigarettes in new public places.

Daniel Thomas, spokesman for the French Tobacco Research Association, called it "a good measure" and "expanded the space for tobacco use".

France first banned smoking in public buildings in 2007, and the ban expanded to cafes, restaurants and nightclubs in 2008. Given where the smoked cafe is located in French cultural knowledge, many people think the band is difficult to execute.

Although it succeeds immediately, smokers simply migrate outside, turning the sidewalk into a place if you are not smoking.

The French Ministry of Health attributes about 200 deaths to tobacco use every day, making it a preventable cause of death.

The social cost of tobacco is estimated to be 156 billion euros per year. It is also a major pollutant, discarding 20,000 to 25,000 tons of cigarette butts each year.

The city of Paris has just launched a new campaign to reduce the remaining 2 billion smoke butts on the street each year.

The new ban will not apply to e-cigarettes that have been increasing over the past five years, with 6% of adults saying they use them now.

On a park bench under a tree in Paris' 15th tree, 26-year-old student Ouadere Thevet enjoys smoke. The kids play in the nearby jungle gym. Even if he couldn't do that after June, Vevet said he was doing it for the measure.

“We can always find other smoking spots, like outdoor cafes,” he said. “It hurts the kids, so we shouldn’t do it around them.”

Thevet said he became smoking after he cheated on cigarettes with his friends as a teenager. He believes the measure may have a big impact.

“I think limiting places you can smoke may actually prompt a lot of people to quit.”