Vodka People

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NOT ALL RUSSIANS DRINK VODKA. Please remember that. Some Russians don't drink any alcoholic beverages. But they are outnumbered by those who do.

So how bad is it, really? Do Russians drink like a fish? If they do, why do they do it?

More after the jump...



Drinking has become a part of Russian culture since they have discovered how to ferment honey. There isn't a social event, be it a birthday party, a wake, or a wedding that is celebrated without any booze present. And when we say "booze" we don't mean beer, or red wine, or even some Armenian cognac. We mean vodka, 40% alcohol by volume. The kind that is cheap, widely available, and hugely popular among the masses. 

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Long, frequent, elaborate toasts are a part of the culture. Abstaining from drinking can be perceived as a sign of antisocial behavior, so most party goers feel some pressure to drink in order to fit in. 

For many millions of Russian alcoholics, their daily existence depends on whether they can find something to get hammered or not. Thanks to low prices and unlimited supply, their addiction pathways are always rewarded. 

Heavy drinking penetrates all levels of society, from the top to the very bottom. And, let us assure you, alcohol is certainly the key factor when it comes to getting to the very bottom for some. 

It is not a rare scene to see people passed out either on the grass, or by the road, or in the metro. Even though drunk people are prohibited from entering the metro since they pose a real safety hazard, nobody takes their intoxication too seriously.

Here is a true story that is somewhat hard to believe, unless you live in Russia. A director or a store in Volgodonsk organized a vodka-drinking competition. People were encouraged to drink vodka using large beer mugs from buckets filled with vodka. As a result, one person died and five ended up in the ICU. The director was able to avoid any responsibility by claiming people participated on their own volition. Here are the details (in Russian): Source

During the Czarist time, there was one brave doctor, a neurologist Vladimir Bekhterev, who actually tried to sober Russians up by adding grape extract to grain alcohol. He believed (and rightly so) that by doing this, he could reduce the number of people who suffer from the alcoholism. Even though his concoction proved to be extremely useful, it did not become popular and eventually sank into oblivion, together with many millions of Russian alcoholics. 

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Gorbachev tried to implement prohibition. However, it backfired since many people started drinking anything, that contained alcohol, including some eau de cologne for men, illustrated below. 

According to WHO, Russia is #4 in the world, when it comes to total alcohol consumption. Source

Just think: a quarter or all Russian men die before they reach 55, and alcohol is the primary cause. This is very unfortunate since alcohol consumption contributes to the overall decline of the nation.  Source

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So, why do Russians drink so much? 

Some of the reasons are socio-cultural: drinking traditions and alcohol consumption norms are ingrained deeply in Russian social norms. It is a common but not necessarily true notion that heavy drinking is caused by the need to survive everyday hardships and this unhealthy habit helps them to escape the grim reality.

Another factor that should be considered is that many Russians, just as Asians and Native Americans, are lacking specific genes that protect them against heavy drinking. Source

We believe that both factors, the biological one, and the socio-cultural one, play an important part in heavy alcohol consumption. 

The attempts have been made to steer Russian appetite for hard liqueur away from vodka and more towards beer and wine. However, beer proved to be just as addictive, and wine is usually more expensive thus less culturally accepted. If you can buy one bottle of vodka for approximately $3, why bother with wine? As of now, vodka remains to be the spirit of choice when it comes to consuming alcohol for locals. Source

Russians admit they drink a lot, but they deny the fact that many Russians are alcoholics. Why? Because the great majority does not know the symptoms of alcohol abuse. For example, binge drinking is considered somewhat benign in Russia, almost like the passing flu. So a binge drinker would not be labeled as an alcoholic. In fact, a person has to be in his last stage of liver cirrhosis in order to be labeled as an alcoholic.  They just do not know better.

No!

Some sobering facts: 

1. Heavy alcohol use is a significant factor in the suicide rate, with an estimated half of all suicides a result of alcohol abuse. Source In 2012, 29,735 of 1,906,335 (1.56%) deaths in Russia were suicidal.  Source

2. In 2011, each Russian adult drank on average 13 liters of pure alcohol every year, of which eight liters was in spirits, mainly vodka.  Source

3. One study says 25% of Russian men die before they are 55, and most of the deaths are down to alcohol.  Source

What are the ramifications of heavy alcohol use by one particular culture? Drunk driving, low life expectancy, fetal alcohol syndrome, birth defects, etc. Not a pretty picture.

Is there anything that can be done, besides prohibition that does not work (it was tried during the time of Gorbachev)?

Explicit and implicit propaganda won't completely eradicate the problem, but will probably help to curb it.  When drinking becomes socially unacceptable, Russia will become a reborn nation.