Question by Soup: What was the ”Anti-Alcohol Campaign” during Mikhail Gorbachev’s era in the USSR all about?
… And what sort of economic problems did it cause?
Answers and Views:
Answer by Whiskey
They didn’t want alcohol.
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rsa and rsg says
I think, no country (except the Arab) will ban or do anti-alcohol campaign, because it is consumed by the high class people and generate high amount of revenue.
Spellbound says
Alcohol abuse was rife in the late Soviet period. Part of the problem was over-employment: people turning up for work, clocking on, and then having nothing to do all day. This was because everyone was guaranteed a job – it did not guarantee that there was work for them to do at their jobs. People sat around drinking all day.
This led to widespread alcoholism, and even workers who did work were drinking on the job, causing low productivity, poor quality goods as well as social problems, like domestic violence and drink driving. Alcoholics were also a burden on the health care system, through accidents and violence as well as alcohol related issues.
The anti-alcohol campaign had an unexpected effect; just as in the USA during prohibition, bootleg booze became readily available to fill the gap. Known as samogon, this bootleg vodka could be lethal or lead to blindness.
Gorbachev hoped to increase productivity, to prevent some domestic violence and to free up hospital from the burden of looking after drunks.