Representatives of Russia’s Vologda region, north of Moscow, proposed limiting the sale of alcohol to two hours a day on weekdays. They did so after the local governor pointed to what he said were terrifying mortality statistics. Reuters reported about it today.
Governor Georgi Filimonov said 71 percent of deaths among working-age men in the region are linked to alcohol consumption, including diseases such as cirrhosis of the liver or heart disease.
“In one year, the incidence of alcoholism increased by 30 percent. It’s a scary picture,” he said in an eight-minute speech posted on Telegram, saying the bill was an urgent intervention to promote public health.
“We cannot stand idly by as our countrymen die,” he said. “If the inhabitants are dying and dying as in war, who will come in their place?” he added.
A proposal being debated by the local legislature would allow stores to sell alcohol only between noon and 2 p.m. on weekdays, while sales on weekends and holidays would remain unchanged. If the restrictions are adopted, they will enter into force on March 1 next year.
Demographic problems in Russia have gained importance in connection with the war against Ukraine, Reuters recalled. Official data released last month showed Russia’s birth rate fell to its lowest level in a quarter of a century. According to official statistics, the average life expectancy of Russians last year was 73.1 years. According to data from the statistical office Eurostat from the same year, citizens of European Union countries live to an average of 81.5 years.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), Russia traditionally belongs to the countries with the highest consumption of alcohol in Europe. Russian and Soviet officials have previously tried repeatedly to change Russians’ drinking habits, but with little success.
“There is irreparable damage to the health of future generations, to the economy, to our public, social and cultural life,” said Filimonov. “And all this is happening in conditions of peace, not on the front line,” he added.
The Kremlin said today that similar restrictions are not being considered at the federal level. He was reacting to the statement of one of the members of the lower house of the Russian parliament that he supports the gradual restriction of the sale of alcohol throughout Russia.
In 2010, Vladmir Putin, then in the position of prime minister, approved restrictions on the sale and production of alcohol, higher taxation and restrictions on advertising.
Nicholas II, the last Tsar of Russia, introduced Prohibition after the start of World War I in 1914, which banned the sale of hard alcohol in most establishments. Soviet leader Joseph Stalin lifted Prohibition in 1925 and re-introduced a state monopoly system for the sale of vodka in order to increase revenue for the state treasury.
Source: spravy.pravda.sk
