What's that smell???

No it's not my dirty laundry, though that was definitely ripe upon my return from Thailand. This was a strange odor in my classroom yesterday. I was teaching my grade 11 students. One of my favorites, the one who calls me at least once a week, came over and asked a question. As she walked away I noticed the smell of cigarette smoke. I've never noticed this on her before and then even after she walks away I can still smell it. I look up, sniffing the air and another student is making a sniffing face similar to mine. I say "Do you smell that?" and she says, "It smells like burning, but not like before (when a chemistry experiment went wrong)... like a cigarette." So I step into the hallway. There is a student coming from the bathroom who notices me smelling and says, "I just came from the bathroom, it's not from there." I grab my department head who smells it as well. Then a see a man standing at the top of the stairs. He's not a school employee, but has on a visitor's badge. I walk up to him and ask in Russian if he's smoking. He shakes his head no, but then I look down and see smoke coming out from his palm! WTF?! This is a school! You're not allowed to smoke on school grounds much less IN THE BUILDING! WTF people.

Stats from an ABC Australia article:

While in Russia, a very huge proportion of the population smoke. More than 70 per cent of men in the age from 20 to 30, 35 smoke. What is most important is that teenagers start smoking and among teenagers, those who are 14, 15 years of age, of the proportion of smokers, among boys is about 40, 50 per cent. And among girls about 30 per cent.

The life expectancy of a Russian man is 58 years old. Holy cow!