Alcoholism

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 * __Current Policy __**



 The Russian government has been persuing a mainlysystem in regards to alcoholism. For example, President Medvedev announced in January of 2010 that the minimum price for a bottle of vodka would be more than doubled. He hopes that this will encourage people to cut back on their drinking; however, critics believe that it will just drive people to drink more risky products, such as moonshine or antifreeze, which is what is hinted at in the above cartoon. When President Medvedev kick-started his campaign in 2009, he called alcoholism in Russia a, "national disgrace" and he was set on lowering that figure by a quarter by 2012. The last time anyone tried to fight alcoholism in Russia was Gorbachev who implemented laws in the Soviet Era which severely restricted the selling of alcohol, and while this policy worked for the first year, it proved counter-productive after that.

  A survey taken in 2009 shows that 34% of Russians that were surveyed support an anti-alcohol movement. This is influenced by the facts that every year there are over 500,000 deaths from alcohol.
 * __Public Opinion __**

  This visual image effectively displays how profound alcoholism is in Russia. Most notably, 77% of those surveyed stated that they consumed beer at least once a week. Additionally, 50% claimed that they consumed vodka at least once a week.

Parties generally do not differ in their opinion that something must be done about the alcoholism plaguing the nation; however, United Russia's political dominance has allowed it to be the most vocal about their view on the issue. President Medvedev has personally attacked the issue head on, while his fellow party members in the Duma have been forced into a stalemate by pro-alcohol lobbyists. Both major celebrities of the party, Medvedev and Putin, have made several symbolic gestures to combat alcoholism in their policy making and personal actions. The leadership of United Russia in the Duma have often suggested that the best solution to the issue would be the adoption of a state alcohol monopoly.
 * __Party Stances __**

 Overall, there is a very minimal effect of alcoholism in the Russian political system. What the people drink has a minimal effect on how the society functions as a whole. However, the Russian government in the past and up through the Soviet Era has used this large business in order to raise funds for the government by holding a complete monopoly on the business. It will be interesting to see if United Russia will attempt to monopolize the entirety of the alcohol sales in government companies or if they will stop with controlling prices. In all likelyhood, it will simply be used as a profit making mechanism for the government through taxes and the such, simply because of the corruption prevalent in the system. Government officials would not make as much money if the companies were made public instead of being allowed to remain private.  There are some problems with the laws being implemented to combat alcoholism in Russia. The problem for Mr Medvedev is that, historically, whenever Russia has tried to combat excessive drinking, illicit sales of alcohol have risen. Experts estimate that bootleg vodka - often made after-hours in legal distilleries - makes up almost 50% of all vodka drunk by Russians. The ideal meathod to combat alcoholism in Rusiia would be to change the culture and attitudes towards drinking - but doing that would take generations and the problem is that Russia always wants an instant solution.
 * __Implications __**