Alcohol Makes Russians an Extinct Nation

A press conference "Alcohol and narcotic terror in Russia" was held in Moscow
Participants of the press conference are sure that Russia is in for an alcoholic collapse because of the policy of making drunkards of people that is so obvious here now. These pessimistic forecasts are based upon data provided by the World Health Organization. The organization states that a nation absolutely dies away when alcohol production reaches 8 liters per head in a year. In 2000, the showing made up 18.5 liters per head in Russia. People speaking in support of sober mode of living say that if a program for strict control of alcohol consumption is not adopted in the country, the Russian nation will die down by the middle of the century and will become extinct in 50 years.

According to the facts stated at the press conference, alcohol consumption made up 3.5 liters per head a year at the beginning of the 20th century, but the showing suddenly went up at the end of the 1950s. By the year of 1980, Russia produced 10.8 liters of alcohol per head which was 2.5 times higher than on average in the world. The World Health Organization states that by that period 40 million of Russians were alcoholics and drunkards. Alcohol production reached 18.5 liters per head by 2000, the shocking figure that makes scientists be anxious about the future of the Russian nation. The problem is that Russia has already exceeded the limit of alcohol production per head below which the nation may die away, RBC daily reports. Chairman of the International Academy of Sobriety organizational committee Alexander Mayurov says that every year up to 900,000 people in Russia die of overdrinking alcohol. 

Participants of the press conference and independent experts questioned by RBC daily think that brewing development has considerably contributed in worsening of the situation. Sergey Polyatykin, the coordinator of medical programs of No to Alcohol and Drugs fund told RBC daily that it is because of beer that people start drinking alcohol drinks at a younger age. "Indeed, beer is not recognized officially as an alcoholic beverage; it is no crime at all to sell it anywhere to people of any age. As a result, we have young beer alcoholics, - teenagers who became alcoholics because of drinking beer only." Sergey Polyatykin adds that morals in the country have also made for the increase of alcoholism in Russia. Indeed, you could hardly see a man with a bottle of beer early in the morning 5-6 years ago. Today, this is a typical situation unfortunately.  Experts say that instead of taking care of the population, the government is more concerned about producers of alcohol drinks. For example, soon after the act of terrorism at a rock concert in Moscow's Tushino, Moscow Mayor Yury Luzhkov took part in the opening ceremony of a beer festival that in its turn guaranteed security to participants and guests of the festival. According to the expert opinion, the situation can be changed with establishment of total control over alcohol producers and active propaganda of healthy mode of living. It is important to make even teenagers understand what doses of alcohol are dangerous for health.
     
The present-day situation makes scientists say that Russia urgently needs drastic measures to accustom the population to a sober mode of living. President of the International Slavic Academy of Sciences Boris Iskakov says advertising of alcohol and cigarettes must be prohibited; instead, healthy mode of living must be actively popularized. He told RBC daily: "Being soft drugs, alcohol and nicotine have become the key factor of a nation's extinction, the Slavic nation first of all. That is why we need a complex of measures to protect families, mothers and childhood. Otherwise, Russia will soon experience not only the deficit of natural resources, but also the deficit of children and grandchildren."
     
Boris Iskakov says that imposing of prohibition may solve the problem, however this measure will hardly be introduced now. This measure may provoke hard processes in the country the same way it happened during the prohibition in 1987. Sergey Polyatykin says the problem of speedily increasing alcoholism in Russia will affect economy and the demographic situation in the country. "That is why the government should be first of all anxious about people's interests, not about concerns of breweries owners and of financial structures. In addition to active propaganda of healthy mode of living, the basis of alcohol consumption must be reduced. It is necessary to establish new age limits for permitted purchase of alcohol drinks. People must realize what alcohol doses are dangerous for health." 

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Author`s name Andrey Mikhailov
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