Prime minister supports ban on smoking in public

Prime Minister Dmitry A. Medvedev voiced support yesterday for a proposed ban on public smoking by 2015 in Russia, where almost a third of the people smoke. Medvedev also proposed to ban advertising for cigarettes and increase the sales tax on them to a “substantial level.” In Russia a pack of cigarettes typically costs less than $2.He said smoking kills 400,000 Russians a year.