Citing "cultural heritage" concerns, the cultural affairs committee of the National Assembly has recommend an exception to a law which bans the direct or indirect promotion of tobacco products.

The 1991 law which restricts the advertising of tobacco and alcohol led to the removal of images of cigarettes from publicly displayed pictures of famous French figures in recent years. 
The committee said that such censorship exceeds the spirit of the law and that "the falsification of history, the censorship of works of the mind, the denial of reality must remain the heinous marks of totalitarian regimes."
The bill, which is expected to be passed by parliament, was put forward as to counteract the extensive way the country's anti-tobacco law had been interpreted. Public outcry mounted as the philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre, the iconic comic character Jacques Tatim and Charles de Gualle's culture minister Andre Malraux appeared in posters without their trademark cigarettes. A cigarette was even removed from the cover of former President Jacques Chirac's memoirs. (pi)