I don’t know if the biodegradable bags make people sick but at least the ones I know smell strong...

AFAIK, people in Western Europe mostly use reusable bags now, and the single use ones are now sold by the supermarkets as well. I suspect this plastic bag ban story was mainly a commercial coup from the distribution sector, the politicians being cheated, like usual when they are not cheating ;-)

The true challenge now is to get rid of the overwhelming plastic packaging (mineral water bottles, milk bottles, blisters and all sorts of superfluous PVC/PET etc.) While we are almost forced to buy that crap which often ends up amidst nature, free plastic bags were only a small component of this tremendous pollution. In France for instance the recycling rate of plastic altogether is only 24%.