HE KYPNTb,TOBAPMLUr!*

Like the coffee or tea break in the West, the perekur is one of the favorite indulgences of Soviet workers, a time set aside for them to light up their favorite smokes. Older Russians usually prefer a cigarette called papirosa--a pungent blend of black, sun-cured tobacco with a hollow paper mouthpiece. Younger Russians tend to smoke a Western-style (though stronger than U.S. brands) filter tip. Despite all the evidence linking it with lung cancer, heart disease and respiratory ailments, smoking has been rising steadily in the U.S.S.R. Alarmed by this threat to the nation's health, Soviet officials recently began a tough antismoking campaign that rivals the vigorous efforts in the West--and is encountering the same resistance.

In Moscow smoking is being prohibited in the dining areas of all restaurants. Anyone caught lighting up in shops, cinemas, sports arenas or hotel lobbies in Novosibirsk risks a ten-ruble (about $13) fine. In Vilnius, capital of Lithuania, quick eateries and bars no longer permit smoking. Proclaiming itself the first "no smoking city" in the U.S.S.R., the Black Sea resort of Sochi has banned smoking in all restaurants, government offices, taxis, schools, hospitals and recreational areas. It is even illegal on beaches (except one set aside for foreigners). Says Sochi Chairman V.A. Voronkov: "I must warn smokers that henceforth they will feel uncomfortable in Sochi."

The popular Literary Gazette is spearheading the no-smoking drive. It has urged more research into antismoking pills, wants warnings inserted into cigarette packs about the hazards of smoking, and has suggested the creation of a state agency to propagandize against smoking. The Litgaz in fact is already doing some effective propagandizing of its own: one cartoon recently published in its pages shows a man and woman trying to kiss, only to be blocked by their long cigarettes. Another depicts a sickly looking man holding to his head a pack of cigarettes in the shape of a gun

Chain-Smoking. Russians, like Americans, are finding it difficult to change their ways. Despite the ukase against smoking, Moscow restaurant patrons argue loudly when asked to put out their cigarettes. When nonsmokers protest the presence of a smoker at a nearby table, some managers insist that they have not even heard of the new rule. The manager of a collective farm near Timashevskaya in southern Russia chain-smoked furiously while entertaining TIME Correspondent Marsh Clark in a canteen where signs were posted, warning of the perils of smoking.

Much of the impetus for the anti-smoking campaign seems to be coming from the top. At the insistence of doctors worried about his health, Party Chief Leonid I. Brezhnev has tried for years to stop his heavy smoking. He even resorted to a special cigarette case with a timer; the case would open only once every 45 minutes. Last year Brezhnev finally kicked his habit and apparently feels that other Russians can--and had better--follow his lead.

* Translation: No Smoking, Comrade!

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