MOSCOW — On a recent summer evening, Nikolai Yashkin lighted a cigarette to relax after a long day of work as a courier. Mr. Yashkin, 58, said he had been smoking since he was a boy, and he made it clear that cigarettes were as much a part of him as the tattoo of the title of a Soviet love song on his arm. Mr. Yashkin is among the 60 percent of male Russians who smoke, and if statistics are any guide, he is already near the end of his lifespan. The average life expectancy of male Russians hovers around 60, and health analysts say the heavy rate of smoking here plays a big role in a looming population drop that has economists here quite worried. More... Nutty News - Cigarettes America Front Page News
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