France Is Losing Control – The Black Market Is Booming

France says it is fighting nicotine. In reality, it has created Europe’s largest black market. As legal alternatives are banned, consumers are being pushed straight into the hands of criminal networks.

France likes to present itself as a leader in the fight against nicotine. High taxes and outright bans on products such as nicotine pouches and disposable vapes are promoted as bold public health measures. But behind the political rhetoric, a very different reality is emerging. The black market is booming, and industry stakeholders are now warning that the government is losing control.

From Legal to Illegal

According to Logista France, one of the country’s largest distributors of tobacco and nicotine products, consumers are increasingly moving from legal sales channels to illegal ones. In a report published on June 25, the company describes a market where public policy is no longer reducing consumption but instead pushing it away from regulated and taxed channels.

This is no minor trend. Illegal trade is estimated to account for as much as 28% of the French tobacco market, while the government loses between €4 billion and more than €10 billion in tax revenue every year.

Despite these numbers, French policymakers continue down the same path. Nicotine pouches were completely banned in 2026 and possession is now criminalized. Disposable vapes have already been banned.

The problem is that nicotine use does not disappear. It simply moves.

Consumption Barely Falls Despite Declining Sales

This may be the biggest paradox of the French model. Legal sales volumes have fallen sharply in recent years, yet overall nicotine consumption has not fallen at the same pace. Instead, demand has shifted to smugglers, organised crime networks and unregulated online sellers.

In other words, the government has reduced what it can measure, but not what is actually happening.

“The problem is not that the market is under-regulated. The problem is that it is regulated in the wrong way,” says Markus Lindblad, Head of Communications at Pouch Patrol.

Lower Quality, Higher Risks

French policymakers appear to be ignoring a basic economic reality. When prices rise rapidly and legal alternatives disappear, consumers look elsewhere.

Logista points out that repeated tax increases have helped push demand towards cheaper and unregulated products, often with lower quality standards and greater risks for consumers.

This creates a serious public health challenge. While politicians claim to be reducing nicotine-related risks, they are effectively encouraging consumers to buy products without quality controls, age verification or proper oversight.

A System That Works

The contrast with Sweden is difficult to ignore.

By allowing access to smoke-free nicotine alternatives, Sweden has reduced smoking rates to around 5%, while smoking in France remains around 16%. The difference is not only about products, but also about policy.

Sweden has largely accepted that nicotine use exists and focused on moving consumers towards less harmful alternatives. France, on the other hand, is trying to suppress the entire market, with predictable results: a growing underground economy.

“France now faces a choice,” says Lindblad. “It can continue with more bans and higher taxes while accepting a larger black market. Or it can recognise that the current strategy is failing and start building a system that keeps consumers in the legal economy.”

As long as policymakers choose the first option, the outcome will remain predictable.

When governments leave the market, someone else fills the gap. In France, that is already happening.