Of all the challenges that the collapse of the Soviet Union brought to the Russian people, alcohol abuse has stubbornly persisted, threatening the prospects of greater prosperity. With Russian life spans waning, and more children exposed to early drinking, families and community leaders must rebuild their society before it is completely lost to this deadly disease.

Historically, Russia has been the proud home of some of the world’s most famous vodka distilleries such as Stolichnaya and Russian Standard. Curiously, vodka’s home-grown popularity may have been due to government manipulation – for the most part, there has been some form of a state monopoly on vodka production since the 16th century, and all alcohol production was government-controlled during the decades of the communist era. According to Martin McKee of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, General Secretary Joseph Stalin had sought to raise revenue to avoid seeking foreign direct investment, and as a result, sales soared. By the 1970’s, receipts from national alcohol sales had constituted a third of all government revenues in the Soviet Union. Alcoholism rose as well; according to one study, alcohol consumption in the Soviet Union (which includes what is today the Russian Federation) doubled between 1955 and 1979 to 15.2 liters per person. Up to this time, only a handful of anti-alcohol resolutions were passed in the Communist Party’s powerful Central Committee, and some public health initiatives were conducted, but publically available data revealed that alcohol abuse was only worsening as the Soviet Empire continued, with some working adults reporting drinking on average a bottle of vodka a day. Alcoholism was rampant, and out of control.

When Mikhail Gorbachev ascended to the position of General Secretary of the Soviet Union in 1985, he spent less than a month in office before he rolled out an aggressive sobriety campaign, targeting every Soviet citizen, including those in the highest ranks of the Communist Party. Under Gorbachev’s three-year war against the bottle, the legal drinking age was raised from 18 to 21; government production of alcohol was slashed while set sale prices soared; and law enforcement officials cracked down on drunk driving and the production of home-made moonshine, known as samogon. Alcohol was no longer to appear on the menus of official state functions, and heavy-drinking party officials were dismissed and publicly criticized. However, his reforms were rolled back due to popular outcry, and with the personal freedoms gained in the latter half of the 20th century, the Russian people have seem to grappled with persistently high unemployment rates and political and economic uncertainty through greater substance abuse, taking a toll on their lives.

Statistics from the World Health Organization suggest that the average Russian born in 1990 would live to 69 years – about 64 years for men, and 74 years for women. However, in 2006, the overall expected lifespan shrank to 66 years, with 60 years of life expected for men, and 73 for women. Compare this to the expected lifespan of Americans, which increased overall from 75 years to 78 years over the same time period, with men extending their lives from 72 years to 76, and women from 79 to 80. It is important that other nations with a strong tradition for alcohol consumption, such as Great Britain, have a much longer life expectancy for its citizens, which presents more questions as to the causes behind the Russian health decline.

It is clear that consumption has risen over recent time among the most vulnerable Russians. According to the Russian Longitudinal Monitoring Survey, a national annual poll, Russian children aged 14 – 17 years (all underaged) increased their daily alcohol consumption by 33% from 1996 to 2003, with teenage males drinking a reported 906 grams of alcohol a day, which is roughly three bottles of beer, or somewhat less than a typical bottle of vodka. Nationwide, the daily average has increased from 838 grams of alcohol a day to 944, with current numbers likely to be even higher.

The dangerous drinking of toxic liquids and industrial-grade ethanol in Russia has also likely contributed to the tumbling life span of its people. According to an study by the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine featured in the Medial Journal Lancet in 2007, almost half of the deaths of working age men in Izhevsk, a typical Russian city in the Urals, were attributed to “hazardous drinking” – excessive drinking behavior or “non-beverage” alcohol consumption from consumer and industrial products. Shockingly, nearly 1 in ten working-age men (7%) are thought to drink from consumer or medical goods found commonly at pharmacies, such as formaldehyde, aftershave, and medical tonics, which can have up to 97% alcohol at a much lower cost than traditional vodka, wine or beer.

Moreover, illegal vodka, cheap alcohol smuggled from overseas, has flooded the Russian market as citizens seek to avoid high excise taxes on bottles, which rose 10% as recently as 2008. According to the State Statistics Service, 29% of Russia’s 2008 vodka sales – 4.9 million litres – were illegal, and news reports from the Moscow Times suggest that the gloomy economy of 2009 may see illegal vodka sales accounting for nearly half of all nationwide sales. A standard half liter bottle of vodka carries an excise tax of 38 rubles, roughly little more than a dollar, while a luxury liter bottle fetches a tax of 191 rubles (nearly $6). When most Russians only make $700 - $850 in monthly wages, and drink heavily throughout the week, the price difference is a real threat to legitimate alcohol producers paying the excise tax. Legal vodka sales were down 7.6% in 2008, and are expected to dip even further this year. With the economic prosperity of a free Russia, prices for vodka are still lower than in Soviet times. According to Alexander Kondorsky of The Russia Journal, half a liter of vodka is now half the cost compared to average monthly wages from the Soviet era. Without effective law enforcement, illegal vodka poses a serious problem to the future of alcohol beverage control.

Some lawmakers have taken actions to curb alcohol abuse in the last few years. In January 2009, President Dmitry Medvedev consolidated the multi-agency oversight of alcohol sales to one national regulatory body, giving the government more power to take action against black market sales and serious public health issues, such as underage drinking. Previously in 2006, the Russian government enacted new laws to restrict the availability of potent non-beverage alcohols, but it is unclear if this has had a measurable affect on their availability to the public. According to a study published in January 2009 in the journal Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research, British researchers were able to buy hundreds of these products cheaply at stores in more than 17 Russian cities. More action is needed today to enforce the law and raise penalties on the worst offenders. Most worrisome, today, selling alcohol to minors in Russia is not a major offense – it is an “administrative offense” punishable through a fine, or taking a store owner’s license away.

If Russian parents are to see their children live longer and fuller lives, new legal power must be on the table to curb alcohol abuse. Raising the legal drinking age to 21 may be an option, as it has made a positive difference in the lives of American children. Prior to National Minimum Drinking Age Act of 1984 more than 26 U.S. states had minimum drinking ages as low as 18 years. However, now that states have raised their minimum age to 21, the American public has seen results; since 1980, binge drinking among high school seniors has declined by 32%, and alcohol-related traffic fatalities among 16-20 years olds have been reduced by half. When lives are at stake, Russian families and policy makers should be relentless in their pursuit of effective solutions to a sober world.

By Vince Vasquez
Copyright 2009 KeepComingBack.com