Health | Russia Russia Gets Tough New Smoking Law No more lighting up in bars, offices, playgrounds By Rob Quinn Posted Feb 25, 2013 2:30 AM CST Copied Women smoke cigarettes at a shopping center in Moscow. (AP Photo/Misha Japaridze) Life is about to get tougher for smokers in a country with one of the world's highest rates of tobacco use. Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed tough new anti-smoking measures into law, banning smoking in workplaces, restaurants, long-distance trains, and other public places like beaches and playgrounds, the BBC reports. The anti-smoking bill—which sailed through parliament despite stiff opposition from the country's powerful tobacco industry—sets a minimum retail price for cigarettes and introduces new restrictions on advertising. The move comes as part of a push to improve public health that has already seen beer reclassified as an alcoholic drink instead of a food. Read These Next It started with failure to say 'thank you,' ended with murder. Freak accident kills a woman as she cleans her car. It landed on the 4th try. There wasn't enough fuel for a 5th. Mike Johnson is taking heat over a Democrat's delayed swearing-in. Report an error