There is smoke cigars, but mostly we drink vodka every day. It is true that the Russians are traditionally an alcoholic people, and we must support alcohol if you want to be like them. Alcohol is a drug politically correct: a nonconformist hermit would opt instead for opium and hallucinogenic mushrooms, in which case the Prix Médicis escape him (for it there would be vindication of prohibited drugs). Difficult to really escape his day!
Writing is sometimes tiring dint want to be original in every sentence. However, recognize the author the art of thinking: "A thousand five hundred kilometers south China vibrates, or a billion and a half human beings are about to run out of water, wood, space" (18 February).