MOSCOW. (Vlad Grinkevich, RIA Novosti economic...
from Europe and Canada.However, Russia"s experience in this area is more encouraging. A royal decree that banned alcohol manufacturing and marketing nationwide, issued shortly before World War I, came into force on July 18, 1914. It was not followed by any alcohol riots as an alcohol lobby had threatened. On the contrary, the data available suggest that alcohol consumption dropped to 0.2 liters per capita in 1915. Interestingly, labor productivity jumped 9%-13% over the same period. Though it could have been a coincidence, there was also a drop in workplace injuries, crime, mental disorders and suicides.
The Soviet government at first supported the initiative, but money soon prevailed over common sense and the prohibition was soon replaced with a state monopoly on vodka manufacturing and marketing.
In the mid-1980s, the government attempted another crackdown on alcohol abuse. The Communist Party Central Committee passed a resolution on policies to
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