VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. – The home state of Marlboro and the world's largest cigarette factory is set to ban most smoking in restaurants and bars.
Gov. Tim Kaine plans to sign legislation on Monday in Virginia Beach that takes effect Dec. 1. Kaine worked for years for a total ban on smoking in all restaurants.
The bill that lawmakers passed last month falls short of that but generally restricts smoking to separate rooms that have their own ventilation.
Virginia has grown tobacco for 400 years. Philip Morris churns out Marlboros and Virginia Slims at the world's largest cigarette factory in Richmond.
Richmond-based Philip Morris USA is a unit of Altria Group Inc.
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