Russian smokers getting used to public-places bans

The number of smokers in Russia fell from 35 percent last year to 34 percent now, according to an ITAR-TASS story citing the results of a poll conducted by the All-Russia Public Opinion Study Center.

The poll, which interviewed 1,600 individuals in 130 localities of 46 regions on May 23-24, found that 51 percent of men and 19 percent of women smoke.

Twenty two percent of those polled said they smoked a pack or more of cigarettes a day, nine percent said they had two or three cigarettes a day, and three percent said they smoked no more than once a week or once a month.

Fifty five percent of the population said they had never tried a cigarette while 11 percent were said to be quitters.

Eighty one percent of women and 81 percent of senior citizens are non-smokers.

Fifty-four percent of smokers said their smoking habits had not changed during the past year, while 29 percent said they were smoking fewer cigarettes and 16 percent said they had increased their consumption.

Meanwhile, a growing number of smokers are obeying public-places no-tobacco-smoking regulations.

The percentage of those who smoke only in designated areas has grown from 34 percent during 2014 to 42 percent now. Fourteen percent said they did not have to change their behavior because they had never smoked in no-smoking areas.

But about a third of smokers violate the law. Twenty percent try to smoke where they will not be seen, in stairwells or the like, but 15 percent prefer to smoke anywhere and pay the fines.