Alcohol and Soviet Society

Abstract

If, in a nation where comprehensive statistics on social problems are rarely if ever published, legislative action and press attention to such problems may be taken as an indication of the seriousness with which they are regarded, then the Soviet Union's alcohol problem is serious indeed. On April 8, 1967, the Supreme Soviet of the RSFSR approved a decree, On Compulsory Treatment and Labor Re-education of Habitual Drunkards (Alcoholics). This decree, which went into effect on September 1 of the same year, provides for one to two-year terms in special “treatment-labor” medical institutions for excessive drinkers who violate “labor discipline, public order, and the rules of the socialist community.” The new institutions were subordinated not to the Ministry of Health but to the RSFSR Ministry for the Preservation of Public Order (MOOP, now renamed MVD). While it contained a number of significant departures from earlier legislation, the decree's most important point was its “preventive” emphasis. Previously an offending drunkard had to be on trial for a crime in a people's court before proceedings for compulsory treatment could be instituted.

Operasjonen var mislykket, men pasientenöverlevde. Den siste sovjetiske alkohol-kampanjen og dens blandede ettermaele

“…A lkoholkam panjer har kom m et og gått i Sovjetunionens historie (Connor 1971, Joyce 1992, Levine 1999, Richardson 1999, W hite 1996. Sånn sett var det ingenting nytt eller oppsiktsvekkende i Gorbatsjovs initiativ eller i valg av tiltak, som Levine kaller "relatively moderate legal am endm ents" (s 65) og "medium-grade reasonable regulation" (s 63).…”

Adult mortality patterns in the former Soviet Union’s southern tier: Armenia and Georgia in comparative perspective

“…Lower mortality in Armenia and Georgia could also be due to differences in epidemiological patterns among native ethnic groups in these two republics, not only by comparison with ethnic Russians but also by comparison with native ethnic groups in Central Asia. Given the importance of alcohol consumption in explaining the health crisis in former Soviet Republics, Georgia’s and Armenia’s distinct alcohol culture, with more emphasis on the consumption of local wine and cognac and less emphasis on binge drinking like in the case of Russia, could explain in part Georgia’s and Armenia’s distinct mortality patterns (Connor 1971; Pomerleau et al 2008). The mortality patterns presented in this paper will be discussed within the framework of these questions, which have important public health relevance for the region.…”