Russia smoking ban hasn't caught fire

Moscow advertisements for cigarettes; a new law could limit smoking in Russia

By CNN's Elina Fuhrman

MOSCOW, Russia (CNN) -- Russia's lower house of parliament, the Duma, has adopted a law banning smoking everywhere but in designated areas.

But the new law doesn't mean people will throw away their cigarettes.

Russians have cherished their right to light up for decades.

Everywhere you go, men, women and even children openly smoke. It's estimated that one in three Russians is addicted to nicotine.

Nikolai Gerasimenko, chairman of the Duma's health care committee, smoked for 30 years before quitting, and now he wants the rest of the country to follow his example.

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Gerasimenko says the law he piloted through the Duma will protect women and children.

"Imagine a room with six people in it -- one has asthma, another is pregnant and the third can't stand the smoke," he says. "And there is only one guy who smokes in the room and thinks he has the right to do it. ... But he has no right at all."

But Gerasimenko's anti-tobacco crusade doesn't seem to be very popular, even among his own colleagues -- the very ones who voted for his legislation.

Children openly smoking in the former Soviet Union; it is believed that one in three Russians is addicted to nicotine

In fact, the Duma's assembly hall is just about the only smoke-free zone in the entire building.

The men and women who want to rid Russia of tobacco light up in front of non-smoking signs and even use planters for ashtrays.

Ordinary Russians are skeptical the new law will work.

"It won't change anything, people will continue smoking," says one saleswoman. "If a person started smoking at the age of 16, then no deputy or law can stop them."

Many argue that imposing the law would deprive many Russians of one of their few affordable pleasures.

Or, they say, the fines imposed for smoking publicly would stretch family budgets even further -- with smokers scrimping on necessities to pay for their habit.

Russia has already seen one failed attempt to end a popular vice. When Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev tried to limit access to alcohol in the late 1980s, a contraband booze industry sprang up overnight, undermining efforts at regulation.

Many fear any law to push cigarettes further to the fringes of society could lead to an underground market for tobacco.