MOSCOW, November 23 - RAPSI. The State Duma may adopt an anti-tobacco bill in the first reading which includes prohibiting smoking in public places, Alexander Zhukov, the State Dumas first vice speaker, said on Friday.

In late October the Russian government submitted a bill to the State Duma on prohibiting smoking in public places from 2015. According to the Healthcare Ministry, the measures limiting the consumption of cigarettes have been proposed to be implemented gradually: some will come into effect immediately after the adoption of the law, others will be implemented from July 1, 2014, or from January 1, 2015.

The bill has been drafted to improve anti-tobacco legislation so as to protect the population from the influence of tobacco and consequences of its use, with due account of the framework convention of the World Health Organization Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (WHO FCTC).

The development of the bill is in response to the country's high rates of tobacco consumption and its negative medical, demographic and other social-economic consequences.