Alcohol in Russia

These policies have resulted in a considerable fall of alcohol consumption volumes to levels comparable with European Union averages.

[5] Alcoholism has been a problem throughout the country's history because drinking is a pervasive, socially acceptable behaviour in Russian society.

[14] At the beginning of World War I, prohibition was introduced in the Russian Empire, limiting the sale of hard liquor to restaurants.

After the Bolshevik Party came to power, they made repeated attempts to reduce consumption in the Soviet Union.

[17] Soviet leaders Nikita Khrushchev,[17] Leonid Brezhnev,[17] Yuri Andropov, and Konstantin Chernenko all tried to stem alcoholism.

The campaign was temporarily successful in reducing per capita alcohol consumption and improving quality-of-life measures such as life expectancies and crime rates, but it was deeply unpopular among the population and it ultimately failed.

[20] A 1997 report published in the Journal of Family Violence found that among male perpetrators of spousal homicide, 60–75% of offenders had been drinking prior to the incident.

[21] Lead researcher Professor David Zaridze estimated that the increase in alcohol consumption since 1987 has caused an additional three million deaths nationwide.

For example, in 2007, Gennadi Onishenko, the country's chief public health official, voiced his concern over the nearly threefold rise in alcohol consumption over the past 16 years.

[1] In 2010, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev nearly doubled the minimum price of a bottle of vodka in an effort to combat the problem.

[26] Medvedev reacted by calling for a ban on non-traditional alcoholic liquids like the bath lotion involved in this case, stating that "it's an outrage, and we need to put an end to this".

[6][7] High volumes of alcohol consumption had serious negative effects on Russia's social fabric and brought political, economic and public health ramifications.

[33] However, binge drinking levels remain elevated compared to other countries in the WHO Eastern European Region.

Alcohol advertisements were banned on TV, radio, and other public platforms to reduce exposure, especially for young people.