A complete or partial ban on alcohol is a topic of concern to any connoisseur of alcoholic beverages. Today we will take all the most interesting things about Prohibition, press this aromatic cake, let it ferment, distill it and serve it to you in portions, in delicious, steamy glasses.
A complete or partial ban on alcohol is a topic that, one way or another, concerns any connoisseur of alcoholic beverages. So the online magazine “Rum Diary” decided to keep up with the trend. There is a lot of information on this subject on the Internet, so we will not replicate the next “10 facts” or go deeply into the history, prerequisites and consequences. Today we will take all the most interesting things about Prohibition, press this aromatic cake, let it ferment, distill it and serve it to you in portions, in delicious, steamy glasses.
First toast. Aperitif.
“A long time ago, in a far, far away country, there lived a prince - a respected, brave, but narrow-minded man. And he saw how young horsemen, instead of plowing the princely lands and going on campaigns against their rich neighbors, had fun all day long, drinking wine, meeting beauties, fighting and singing songs. But it must be said that this ruler was tormented from childhood by ulcers, gout, stupidity and complexes. And he decided that everyone else should live as badly as he did - he banned wine, ordered the vineyards to be cut down, and at the same time ordered the choir to sing the national anthem every day. At the prince’s funeral, this hymn was sung especially beautifully, and on his grave a vine grew by itself, producing ripe grapes filled with juice. They made excellent wine from them, but didn’t drink them - they were saving them in case another such idiot came to power.”
This ancient legend is one-to-one similar to all stories with the introduction of prohibition laws in world practice. Almost all of them were experiments aimed at increasing labor productivity and improving the “moral character” of citizens. Without exception, all experiments turned out to be unsuccessful, some of them ended in the collapse of the state economy, and in some places, the states themselves.
Anti-alcohol laws began to be introduced at the beginning of the twentieth century. The first was adopted in 1907 in Canada, and off we go: 1907-1992 - Faroe Islands, 1910-1927 - Australia, 1915-1935 - Iceland, 1916-1926 - Norway, and in 1919 prohibition was introduced in Finland .
“5-4-3-2-1-0” is a code familiar to every hot Finnish guy from the 30s. It means the date and time of opening of alcohol stores after the repeal of the law - 5th 04 32 at 10 o'clock.
In 1920, the Eighteenth Amendment, the famous Prohibition Law in America, came into force in the United States. In 1932, this amendment was repealed for the first and last time in the history of the United States.
The first prohibition law in Russia in 1914 was “sent down” by Tsar-Father Nicholas II - interestingly, he himself is not a fool to drink. We all know how this event ended - the collapse of the Empire and the arrival of the Bolsheviks, who, by the way, also banned drunkenness in 1917, but allowed it again in 1923. By decree of People's Commissar Rykov, cheap vodka appeared on the market, which was immediately nicknamed “rykovka”.
Subsequently, the struggle for sobriety continued with varying success. Anti-vodka campaigns were carried out in 1929, 1958, 1972. It was at this time that the terrible miscarriage of Soviet “punitive psychiatry” was invented - the Medical Labor Dispensary.
As a result, instead of quality alcohol, people began to drink dubious junk, and some even started drinking colognes and BF glue. It is believed that it was at this time that the future “brothers” of the 90s were born - the “initial private capital” grew from the illegal import and production of alcohol, which became a death sentence for the USSR.
Second toast. For health!
Alcohol poisoning has always been the downside of Prohibition. Not all bootleggers have anything resembling a conscience. Anything necessary was poured into counterfeit alcohol, including poisonous and toxic substances. Massive methanol poisonings were noted during Prohibition in Finland and the USSR, and in the States, methyl alcohol was specially added to technical alcohol so as not to drink. The result is 10,000 dead and 15,000 disabled (for comparison, the United States lost half as many people in Iraq, 4,423).
Pharmacies have always been at the forefront of selling “special” substances to the afflicted. Today's tramadol and harmless Atusinki are a trifle compared to what happened during the Prohibition era. In the States, for example, the drink “Jake”, a Jamaican ginger liqueur, was popular. The authorities, having caught wind of the fact that it was being used by drinkers, ordered pharmacists to change the formula of the drug so that it would taste bad. An industrial plasticizer was used - then it was believed that it was harmless. The result is hundreds of paralyzed tasters and several grisly deaths.
This kind of “medicinal” whiskey was sold in pharmacies during Prohibition in America.
The prohibitionist measures of the US government did not affect one interesting drug rich in ellagolic acid - it was prescribed to people with heart disease and malignant tumors. The wonderful panacea is well known to us - it is malt whiskey. It was sold in pharmacies and cost a lot of money, but it was the only almost legal alcohol that could be obtained at that time.
In pre-revolutionary Russia, alcohol was not prohibited - it was dispensed with a prescription at the pharmacy. A whole galaxy of Aesculapian businessmen appeared who handed out prescriptions for drugs for money. Pharmacists also had their share in the “business”. The tradition continued in the USSR during the era of stagnation - in pharmacies you could buy both medical alcohol (with a prescription) and all sorts of hawthorns, calendulas, eucalyptus.
Toast three. Here's to the beautiful ladies!
“Thanks to my dear party and Gorbachev personally! My sober husband came home and you….l great!”- such a ditty went around during the anti-alcohol campaign of the late 80s. And in general, it is believed that the bulk of supporters of Prohibition in Russia and throughout the world belong to the fair sex.
Take a closer look at these friendly and open faces. How can you not drink if you have a wife like that?
The beginning of an active fight against alcoholism is associated with the development of emancipation. At the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th centuries, hundreds of pious organizations operated in the Old and New Worlds - mainly religious and predominantly women's. In the States, even after the Civil War, the so-called “Women's Christian Temperance Union” appeared, and in 1893 the “Anti-Saloon League” - organizations that subsequently had a decisive influence on the adoption of the 18th Amendment. Similar “public associations” were created in the USSR - just in time for the campaigns of 1929, 1958, 1972, 1985.
Well-known, for example, is such a “fighter” with alcoholism as Callie Nation. She traveled around the States holding an ax in one hand and a Bible in the other. In every city she burst into saloons and smashed everything she saw with her hatchet, saying that liquor dealers were “luring men straight to hell.” Later, the old woman changed her name to Carry A. Nation (support the nation), began publishing a newspaper and “teetotaling” souvenirs, from which, they say, she made a good income. Why not the American dream?
But emancipation is a double-edged sword. Among the women there were many who liked to drink and did not support the unconstructive “ban, period!” For example, a well-known opponent of Prohibition in the United States was Grace Coolidge - by the way, the wife of President Calvin Coolidge. She loved good alcohol, criticized the anti-alcohol policies of the Republicans, and even named her dog “Rob Roy” - after the famous cocktail based on scotch and. They say that after this, the Americans' love for their First Lady grew to the skies.
And these girls are living proof that not all ladies supported Prohibition
Prohibition in America was accompanied by a surge in female alcoholism. The reason is simple - ladies who, before the ban, drank mainly wine and light cocktails, began to drink low-grade strong whiskey together with their husbands. The same thing was observed in our country - everyone knows the colognes “Jasmine” and “Rose Water”, which were considered “feminine” drinks.
Toast four. There are no irreplaceables!
Alcohol banned? Well, people will find a way to “kill themselves” without your wines and cognacs! Everything was used - cosmetics, shampoos, dental elixirs, anti-freeze products and other nasty things. Soviet alcoholics, and not only alcoholics, became especially famous for their ingenuity.
Here is a small “TOP” of their favorite “cocktails”:
- Cucumber lotion. 68% + relatively sane taste. All that had to be done before drinking was to lower a hot piece of iron into the liquid, which supposedly cleansed the drink of toxic impurities.
- Varnish. The Unforgettable claimed that every baby knows how to clean polish. To do this, pour 100 grams of salt into a liter of liquid, shake the mixture, after which foam and sediment are removed. People who often drank this wonderful drink had a brown-purple face, for which they were called “eggplants.”
- Clay BF, aka “Boris Fedorych”. Before use, the glue was applied “to the drill” - a working drill was inserted into the jar, which gradually screwed in the adhesive composition. They threw it away, and drank the remaining alcohol with a terrible chemical aroma.
- Denatured alcohol. Before consumption, this swill underwent a real “purification by fire” - it was set on fire and waited. When the flame turned blue, the methanol burned out and the liquid was ready to drink. Due to the fact that a skull and crossbones was painted on bottles of meth, it was often called Cognac “Mastrossky”, two seeds.
- Dichlorvos. Disinsectal had a double effect - both alcoholic and toxic. Most often it was poured into a mug of beer. Just no more than two sprays - otherwise you might die!
- And finally, the highlight of the program - shoe polish! The method of cleaning it is simple and ingenious - shoe polish was smeared on a piece of bread, which absorbed alcohol over time, after which the bread was eaten. True, shoe polish was saved for the most extreme case, when there was simply nothing else left - the chance of “gluing the felt boots together” was too great.
Fifth toast. If you want to do it well, do it yourself!
The main panacea for Prohibition in Russia is known under the name: “moonshine”, “sam”, “kosorylovka”, “tyrant” and so on. In America, its name was more poetic “Moonshine Liqueur” or simply “Moonshine”. But this did not change the essence - the same homemade swill made from the simplest and most accessible ingredients - cereals, sugar, fruits, etc.
In the USSR, moonshine was produced regardless of whether the state was currently fighting alcoholism or not. But during Prohibition in Russia, the inventive mind of our man came up with new ingredients. For example, it was at this time that mash began to be made from pillow candies. When stores ran out of sugar and sugar-containing products, they used potatoes, beet tops, and molasses. Anyone who has tried molasses moonshine knows what a disgusting thing it is - the headache after it may not stop for 2-3 days, and the redness of the eyes does not go away for weeks! As Ostap Bender said: “ Even from an ordinary stool you can distill moonshine. Some people like a stool».
My father told a funny story about one moonshine “point”. “Maman” Aunt Klava was dissatisfied with the fact that customers constantly take away the glasses they were given. As a result, two holes were made in the shutter of her house. You had to stick your head into one, and your hand into the second, small one. When a thirsty person voluntarily placed himself in this improvised “pillory,” he was poured a glass that could only be drunk inside—he could not fit through the hole.
In the States in the 30s, the production of “Moon Liquor” reached an absolutely unimaginable scale. Despite all the efforts of the police, bootleggers operated wherever possible - in their own homes, in the forests, on abandoned farms. They were caught, but they returned again, despite inhumanly cruel punishments. There is a known case when a court sentenced an 85-year-old man to five years of hard labor and a fine of $500 for taking several bottles of whiskey for a holiday for himself and friends.
Ps, boy! Would you like some moon liquor?
In 1926, the largest underground distillery in US history was discovered in Oklahoma City. The total volume of its production capacity exceeded 100,000 liters, the workshop was located underground, at a depth of 250 meters, illegal water supply, electricity and an elevator were installed to it.
By the end of the 1920s, in some states, violations of the Eighteenth Amendment accounted for 95% of all crimes. The state spent about a billion dollars annually on the fight against moonshiners, and more than 75,000 people were arrested every year. A quarter of a million cops enforced Prohibition, and another 20,000 fought corruption within that quarter.
Last toast. A little beer to follow up.
During anti-alcohol campaigns, not only strong alcohol, but also innocent beer was persecuted. For example, in Iceland Prohibition was repealed in 1935, but teetotaler organizations begged for an indulgence - beer remained banned for another 50 years. On March 1, 1985, the government lifted the illogical ban. Since then, every year in early March, Icelanders have decided to drink beer all night long, and the foamy drink itself has become the favorite in this country and even received national status. This is what they call “getting it”!
Things were a little better in Australia. During World War I, Australians worked for the defense industry from 6am to 5pm. After this, the workers were supposed to sleep, so the bars closed at 17.00 sharp. Drinkers were forced to leave work early to have time to drink beer. By the way, there was only one glass for each visitor; a new portion was poured only when the previous one was finished.
There is good folk wisdom that you need to learn from the mistakes of others. Everyone knows about this, everyone loves to show off their erudition, but rarely does anyone follow this proverb.
I would like to note that all economic laws and errors have already been tried and described. Likewise, the leaders of the Soviet Union did not take into account the sad experience of the United States in the fight against alcohol.
Who do we associate with prohibition in the USSR? That's right, with the General Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee Mikhail Sergeevich Gorbachev. But this is fundamentally wrong!
“Prohibition” does not eliminate all the causes of alcoholism, but it eliminates one of the main ones - the availability of alcoholic products, which will help in the future to achieve absolute sobriety.
The first attempts to combat alcoholism were made during the time of Tsar Nicholas II in 1913. The reasons for the fight against alcohol were the same as overseas - the beginning of the First World War, a large number of alcohol-related crimes, food savings.
And then the Great October Socialist Revolution broke out. But the Bolsheviks were in no hurry to return vodka to store shelves. Only in 1923 did alcoholic beverages go on sale again.
Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin was an intelligent politician. The communist slogan that everything belongs to the people, and de facto allowed the state to fill the budget. The monopoly on the production of alcoholic beverages made it possible to set any price for the cheapest low-quality alcohol.
In all central publications of the country, on television and radio
And then, alcohol became the only joy, an opportunity to forget for many generations of Soviet citizens. The lack of economic motivation to stay sober played a role. Salaries were the same throughout the country and did not depend on the quality of the work performed.
According to relentless statistics, between 1960 and 1980, mortality from alcohol doubled compared to the previous period. More than 20 liters of pure 100% alcohol were produced annually for every resident of the country, including infants.
At the beginning of the 80s. The anti-alcohol campaign had to be postponed due to a series of deaths and ascensions to the throne of the leaders of the Soviet Union.
M.S. Gorbachev, a young and promising politician, knew about the problem of drunkenness firsthand. His daughter worked as a narcologist. May 17, 1985 is the date of the start of a large-scale anti-alcohol campaign on the territory of the USSR.
It was planned to gradually reduce the production of strong alcoholic beverages and increase the share of quality wine and beer on store shelves. But over 50 years of repression, the people developed slavish obedience and no one bothered to calculate the economic effect.
So, in almost 1 day, more than 2/3 of the stores that sold alcoholic beverages were closed. Those that remained worked from 14 to 19 hours.
Prohibition - selling alcohol using coupons.
Vineyards were destroyed in Crimea, Moldova and the Caucasus. Some of them were famous for their unique varieties, production technology and high-quality collection wines.
As in the United States, enterprising citizens, who have come to be called speculators, are beginning to make money from the shortage of alcohol. But unfortunately for the latter, the borders of the Soviet Union were closed by the Iron Curtain. Although there was smuggling, it did not reach American proportions. Moreover, even very influential thieves in law did not have the opportunities to gather in the States. The leaders of criminal gangs could not afford a personal merchant fleet or a private plane.
Vodka becomes a means of payment, a bargaining chip. Remember, plumbers and others did their work for a bottle. Moonshining has resumed, and on an industrial scale. A new class of alcoholics has emerged - substance abusers.
What is the difference between a drinker and a drug addict? The first one is understandable - he respects alcohol, and the second one - uses toxic substances. As a rule, high-spirited people snorted BF glue and similar reagents. As practice has shown, substance abusers degrade faster than their counterparts in alcohol.
Ordinary people became engrossed in moonshine brewing. The folk product was made from any available raw material. And to combat the illegal production of alcohol, sugar coupons are being introduced. People are switching to any alcohol-containing products - pharmaceutical tinctures, triple cologne, perfume, antifreeze.
Adherents of a sober lifestyle did not ignore the cultural spheres of the people. Why “adherents of the sober way of life of the people”? Yes, because the ruling communist elite was not limited in high-quality, often foreign, alcohol. By using it themselves, they directed the Soviet people to a sober life.
So, about culture! Fragments of drinking alcoholic beverages were cut out of films, and various brochures about the dangers of alcohol were printed.
And then the insidious economy strikes an unexpected blow. The alcohol industry served as a source of funding for the budget. There is no official vodka, no funds in the state treasury with all the ensuing consequences.
The Soviet Union had long been dependent on imported food, the price of oil was falling, and the country's gold reserves were melting before our eyes. Opponents of Prohibition, led by N. Ryzhkov, put pressure on M. Gorbachev and in 1988, alcoholic beverages were legalized. And again, vodka becomes a source of filling the budget.
But still, there were much more obvious advantages:
Do not give in to persuasion to abolish Prohibition! At least our husbands saw their children with sober eyes!
- There was a decrease in crime due to alcoholism.
- As in the decaying West, people switched to milk. Although, milk is used to purify moonshine, so it is not a fact that they simply drank milk.
- Production discipline has improved. Absenteeism and downtime have been reduced from 36 to 40%.
- The number of patients in psychiatric clinics has decreased.
- No alcohol, more money in the family. Well-being improves, people begin to save more for a rainy day. Over the three years of Prohibition, savings banks brought in 45 million rubles more than during the same period three years earlier.
- The number of road accidents and industrial accidents has decreased.
- Mortality from alcohol poisoning has dropped to almost zero. The picture was somewhat spoiled by chronic alcoholics, who always find something to drink.
- For the first time in the history of the USSR, both the overall mortality rate and by gender and age decreased. Men began to live to 65 years of age.
- During the 3 years of Prohibition, the birth rate increased sharply.
Prohibition - let's sum it up
If we compare American and Soviet realities, then prohibition is an absolute blessing. But if sobriety is instilled by command methods, creating an artificial deficit, then a layer will be formed that will make money from it.
In the USA there was freedom of entrepreneurship, competition and so on. In the Soviet Union there was party clanism. Moreover, party bosses had access to alcohol, but ordinary people did not.
Why did Prohibition fail in the USSR? You can nod to the West, saying that they, the enemy, stuck a knife in the back, brought down the world mineral market, and that’s why they had to roll back the law and fill the budget with drunken money. But no one forced us to sell oil or poured alcohol into our mouths.
Prohibition was not an invention of the Soviet Union. Before him, the United States and Finland had sad experiences. By the way, the latter, with the wide availability of alcohol, is one of the most sober countries in the world. Experience must be gained from the experience of others, not from your own. And so, as they say, “they wanted the best, but they got it”... Everyone knows how this aphorism ends.
Prohibition for Russia is a national idea!
Sobriety should be the norm. The consumption of alcoholic beverages should be condemned, the sale of alcohol should be regulated, but not create a shortage. Because the forbidden fruit, as you know, is sweet!
To drink or not to drink? This is one of the questions that society needs to answer. Drunkenness and its consequences have a detrimental effect on the economy, families break up, and public health deteriorates.
They are trying to solve the problem in different ways. Some advocate for a drinking culture, others demand a ban on alcohol altogether. In some countries, the fight against drunkenness has taken the form of a legislative ban on the production and sale of alcoholic beverages. Prohibition was in effect in the United States in the last century. In Russia it was introduced in 1914. Many people remember Gorbachev’s “semi-dry” law and its consequences, which caused an ambiguous reaction from the people. Prohibition in Finland as a way to combat drunkenness and degradation of society lasted almost 13 years. So is it possible to fight alcoholism with the help of legislation?
Prohibition in the USA: prerequisites for its introduction
Drinking alcohol has always been part of the American way of life. Any event, be it national or family-scale, would not be complete without strong drinks, especially beer and various cocktails. Awareness of the detrimental nature of this habit for society gave rise to the most famous example of an irreconcilable fight against drunkenness in history - Prohibition in America.
In the 19th century, saloons became widespread in American culture. They often played not only the role of drinking and gaming establishments, but also restaurants, brothels, courtrooms and even churches. Only men were allowed into the saloons; the appearance of a woman cast a stain on her reputation. In the West, men simply had nowhere to go after hard work. And they relaxed in saloons, the atmosphere of which was depicted in cowboy films.
Women, concerned about drunkenness and fights, sometimes involving stabbings, demanded that these establishments be closed. The first temperance societies appeared. Kansas passed a law in 1881 that banned all alcoholic beverages. Several other states followed suit. The influence of the Anti-Saloon League grew, becoming the most influential political force demanding that saloons be banned. She was supported by Protestant religious leaders, who pointed to drunkenness as the main reason for the moral decay of American society. Thus, Prohibition in the United States did not arise out of nowhere, but as a result of many years of society’s struggle with alcoholism.
Alcohol law in action
In 1919, despite a veto by President Woodrow Wilson, both the House and Senate voted overwhelmingly for the 18th Amendment to the US Constitution. This is the famous prohibition law.
He strictly limited the sale and consumption of alcohol, declaring all liquids with an alcohol content of more than 0.5% “intoxicating.” The production, sale, barter exchange, transportation, export, import, and delivery of such drinks were prohibited. The exception was the use of alcohol for scientific, medical and religious purposes.
The era of the fight against alcohol has begun. Factories producing wine and beer were closed, existing stocks were destroyed.
A network of agents worked throughout the country to eliminate the underground trade in alcohol. All saloons were closed.
Consequences of Prohibition
The consumption of alcoholic beverages has sharply decreased, and mortality due to drunkenness has decreased. Much lower were indicators such as mortality from liver cirrhosis and pancreatitis, diagnosis of alcoholic psychosis, arrests for drunkenness, etc.
But there were also negative consequences, which were reported more widely than the positive ones, largely thanks to gangster films and the media, which sensationalized even minor events. The smuggling of alcohol across the border and delivery to underground establishments has expanded. The production of alcoholic beverages at home increased, since the law did not prohibit their home consumption. The quality of consumed alcohol decreased, since underground workshops could not ensure sufficient purification. Instead of saloons, new establishments appeared - speakeasy, in which women were also allowed, giving them equal rights to drink with men.
And the illegal trade in alcohol gave impetus to the rise of the American mafia, which made huge profits from it. Now, speaking about the consequences of American Prohibition, many cite the words of the famous gangster Al Capone: “Prohibition brought nothing but trouble.” But for him and the mafia fraternity, he became a source of fabulous profits, which later became the basis of the wealth of many of today's American millionaires.
As a result of the Great Depression in 1933, Prohibition was repealed. But individual states retained it on their territory until 1966. Legal advertising of alcoholic beverages was allowed in the United States only in 2001.
The appearance of vodka in Russia
Russia, contrary to popular belief, has not always been the heaviest drinking country in the world. Vodka was discovered only in 1428 from Genoese merchants. But it was immediately banned due to the consequences of its use. Ivan III practically introduced a ban on the production of alcoholic beverages. But under Ivan the Terrible, vodka returned to Russia in triumph in the “tsar’s taverns.” But at the same time, the alcohol content in it was much lower than now. And you could only buy it in a tavern. Vodka was only sold for takeaway in buckets, which ordinary drinkers had no money for. Therefore, drunkenness did not become widespread. But already under Peter I and Catherine II, taverns began to appear in large numbers, since vodka became a source of tax revenue for the treasury, each tavern owner had to pay a tax.
But by the beginning of the 19th century, society realized the harmfulness of alcoholism and began to fight against drunkenness. Temperance societies emerged. There were calls in the newspapers to stop drinking the common people. The church excommunicated habitual drunkards from communion. The matter ended with the anti-alcohol riots of 1858-1859. As a result, some restrictions on the sale of alcohol were adopted.
1914 Law
Before the outbreak of the First World War, prohibition was adopted in the country. For three years before this, the State Duma discussed the problem of drunkenness, listening to a variety of opinions from deputies. As a result, a complete ban on the sale of any alcohol was signed by Nicholas II. The law was warmly supported by the people of Russia. Crime has dropped sharply, and the time has come for general sobriety. Naturally, the consequences in the form of mortality from drunkenness, injuries and mutilations, liver diseases, and cases of insanity due to alcoholic tremens have also been greatly reduced. Thus, Prohibition in 1914 brought immeasurable benefits to society.
The fight against drunkenness under the Bolsheviks
After the 1917 revolution, the fight against alcohol did not stop. In 1919, the sale of alcohol was prohibited. State and private wine cellars were destroyed. It was forbidden to appear drunk in public places; this was subject to criminal liability. The commissars of the Red Army could have been shot for such a sin. Such strictness did not raise any special questions among the people; the people were accustomed to the operation of Prohibition. As a result, after the law was repealed in 1925, people still abstained from excessive consumption of strong drinks.
And only in 1964 our country again reached the 1913 level in alcohol consumption per capita.
Prerequisites for the “Gorbachev law”
But in subsequent years, alcohol consumption grew rapidly. By 1985, there were about 5 million officially registered alcoholics in the USSR. The national economy suffered damage of 100 billion rubles annually. Consumption of pure alcohol per person (counting infants and old people) reached 10.6 liters per year. As a result, life expectancy has decreased and the health of the population has sharply deteriorated. Drunkenness was driven by various reasons, including difficult living conditions and the poor living conditions of the majority of the people, and a low level of culture. Many people did not know any other way to fill their free time. Management at all levels also set a bad example. Drunkenness has become something commonplace and commonplace for society. It was not alcoholics who received reproaches, but non-drinkers. The results were sad: broken families, crime, especially hooliganism, industrial and domestic injuries...
In 1985, when the situation became extremely acute, the Politburo of the CPSU Central Committee adopted a resolution on the fight against drunkenness. Measures were planned to gradually reduce the consumption of strong alcoholic drinks, increase the production of dry wine and beer, and soft drinks. It was necessary to find sources of income that could replace the budget profit from the sale of vodka. The time for the sale of alcoholic beverages was limited. The decree could not be called a dry law, since the production and sale of alcohol did not stop, but were reduced.
Consequences of Prohibition
Initially, society reacted positively to the changes. But soon discontent and irritation began to accumulate among the people. The command-administrative methods used to solve the problem of combating drunkenness did a disservice to the entire anti-alcohol campaign. Hundreds of shops and wineries were closed, and people lost their jobs. According to the saying “make a fool pray to God, he will bruise his forehead,” the vineyards of the Crimea and the Caucasus were cut down. Contrary to the decree, wine production did not increase, but decreased. But the production of surrogates, especially moonshine, began. The expensive equipment for breweries imported from Czechoslovakia was never installed. Sugar disappeared from store shelves; almost all of it went into the production of moonshine. There are no cheap colognes left. Stores selling alcohol were literally taken by storm. Huge queues lined up for them from the very morning. Buying a bottle of wine or vodka for the celebration has become a big problem. Instead of money, it was customary to pay “half a liter” for various works. Vodka turned into a “liquid currency” for which everything could be exchanged.
But there were also many positive results. Mortality due to drunkenness has decreased, although the number of cases of poisoning by surrogates has increased. There has been less loss of working time and injuries. Crime has decreased, and the number of divorces due to drunkenness has decreased. Alcohol consumption has decreased by at least a third. During 1985-1987, the country experienced a sharp increase in life expectancy - by 2.8 years for men and 1.3 years for women. There was an increase in the birth rate. Prohibition in the USSR saved millions of lives.
Current situation
Now Russia ranks first in alcohol consumption; they drink up to 14 liters of pure alcohol per year. Pictures of the degradation of society are again being observed. Alcoholism is spreading especially quickly among young people. And again there is talk about introducing prohibition.
Opponents of such a measure say that if there is no culture of drinking alcoholic beverages, then prohibition will not help. The years of such acts were remembered by the increase in the production and consumption of surrogates and poisoning by them. Proponents argue that with a complete ban on alcohol, any attempts to circumvent it could be quickly stopped.
Is prohibition necessary in Russia? Will it help in the current situation? It is difficult to answer these questions unambiguously. But one thing is clear: bans alone will not solve the matter. Powerful educational work and promotion of a sober lifestyle are needed. We need to offer an alternative to drunken pastime. And to show how much more interesting life can be with a clear head.
Vodka labels during times Prohibition 1985
The main state secret of the Soviet Union is data on alcohol mortality. On the balance were: mortality from alcohol and income from alcohol products. It’s no longer a secret that at one time the budget of the USSR, and then Russia’s, was called "drunk budget". Here's a small example: during the reign of L. Brezhnev, alcohol sales increased from 100 billion rubles to 170 billion rubles.
According to closed data from the USSR State Statistics Committee for 20 years from 1960 to 1980, alcohol mortality in our country increased to 47%, which means that approximately every third man died from vodka. The Soviet leadership was seriously puzzled by this problem, but instead of taking action, it simply classified these statistics. And plans on how to deal with this problem matured very slowly, because... the country was heading towards disaster. 
Under Brezhnev, prices for vodka were raised repeatedly, the state budget received additional revenue, but vodka production did not decrease. Alcoholization of the country has reached its climax. A mad crowd of alcoholics, using unpopular methods of struggle, composed ditties:
“It was six, but it became eight,
we won’t stop drinking anyway.
Tell Ilyich, we can handle ten,
if the vodka gets bigger,
then we will do it like in Poland!”
The allusion to Polish anti-communist events is not accidental. The alcoholized herd was sensitive to the rise in price of vodka, and for the sake of vodka they were ready to do such things as in Poland. It got to the point that a bottle of “little white” became equal to Soviet currency. For a bottle of vodka, a village tractor driver could plow his grandmother’s entire garden.
Andropov, in the name of Brezhnev and the Politburo, cited objective data that with an average world consumption of 5.5 liters of vodka per capita, in the USSR this figure exceeded 20 liters per capita. And the figure of 25 liters of alcohol per capita is recognized by doctors all over the world as the limit beyond which the self-destruction of a nation actually begins.
In the mid-80s, alcoholism in the USSR assumed the scale of a national catastrophe The people, who had lost their heads, drowned, froze, burned in their houses, and fell from windows. There were not enough places in sobering stations, and drug treatment hospitals and treatment and preventive dispensaries were overcrowded.
Andropov received tens of thousands of letters from wives, mothers, sisters, in which they literally begged to take measures to overcome the extent of drunkenness and alcoholism in society - this was "the groan of the people" from this weapon of genocide. In letters, grief-stricken mothers wrote how their children, celebrating their birthdays in nature, drowned drunk. Or how a son, returning home drunk, got hit by a train. Wives wrote that while drinking drinks, their husbands were killed with a knife by their drinking companions, etc. and so on. And there were a lot of such letters with similar tragic stories!
A special commission was created in the Politburo to develop special anti-alcohol resolution, but a series of funerals of top officials of the state slowed down its implementation.
And only in 1985, with the arrival of Gorbachev, the implementation of this resolution began ( Prohibition).
People continued to drink too much, the decision to take radical methods of combating drunkenness was risky, but the calculation was that the USSR would be able to survive the lost income from the sale of vodka, because... the price of oil at the beginning of 1985 was about $30 per barrel, which was enough to support the Soviet economy. The government decided to reduce budget income from the sale of alcohol, as drunkenness has reached catastrophic levels. Gorbachev personally advertises the upcoming action, but at his first speeches to the people he speaks in riddles.
On May 17, 1985, the Central Committee resolution was announced in all central publications of the country, on television and radio. “on measures to overcome drunkenness and alcoholism, eradicate moonshine” - Prohibition. The majority of Soviet citizens supported the government resolution; specialists from the USSR State Statistics Committee calculated that 87% of citizens were in favor of the fight against drunkenness, and every third Soviet citizen demanded tougher measures. This data lands on Gorbachev’s desk and convinces him that he needs to move on. The people demanded the introduction of " Prohibition" “Societies for the struggle for sobriety” were created in each team. In the USSR, such societies were organized for the second time, the first time this happened under Stalin.
M.S. Gorbachev knew about the scale of drunkenness in the country not only from the data that regularly fell on his desk (notes from extras, letters from desperate parents, wives, children), but also from Gorbachev’s own daughter, who was a physician and was engaged in research work on alcohol mortality, It was she and her colleagues who collected these materials and showed her father materials about the colossal mortality rate in the USSR due to alcohol. The data from this dissertation are closed to this day. In addition, Gorbachev’s own family was not at all comfortable with alcohol; Raisa Maksimovna’s brother was also addicted to alcohol (from the materials of Raisa Maksimovna’s autobiographical book “I Hope”).
And then one fine day, 2/3 of the stores selling alcohol closed, and strong drinks disappeared from the shelves. It was then that alcoholics came up with a joke about Gorbachev:
An anecdote about Gorbachev during Gorbachev’s Prohibition Law:
There is a huge queue for alcohol, drunks are indignant.
One, unable to bear it, said: “I’m still going to kill Gorbachev!”
After some time he comes and says: “there’s an even longer queue there.”.
Inveterate alcoholics did not give up, and began to drink varnishes, polishes, brake fluid, and colognes. These dregs of society went further and began to use “BF glue”. Admissions to hospitals with poisoning were not uncommon.
The authorities mobilized scientists and creative intelligentsia to fight drunkenness. Anti-alcohol brochures began to be published in millions of copies. At the end of the 80s, a famous doctor and supporter of a sober lifestyle, academician Fyodor Uglov, spoke on the pages of the press. He informed the country about his discovery, the essence of which was that the reason for the physical and moral degradation of the population was the consumption of even small doses of alcohol.
But then another problem arose: speculators began selling alcohol! In 1988, shady businessmen received 33 billion rubles from the sale of alcohol. And all this money was actively used in the future during privatization, etc. This is how various speculators have earned and continue to earn money on the health of citizens!!!
Gorbachev and Reagan during Prohibition 1985
By the way, our overseas friends didn’t have to wait long! Western analysts were especially interested in the new steps of the Soviet leadership. Western economists put reports on R. Reagan's desk saying that the USSR, in order to save its citizens, abandoned huge profits from the sale of alcoholic beverages. Military analysts report that the USSR is stuck in Afghanistan, there is an uprising in Poland, Cuba, Angola, and Vietnam. And here our “Western friends” decide to stab us in the back!!! The United States convinces Saudi Arabia to reduce oil prices in exchange for the supply of modern weapons, and in 5 months by the spring of 1986, the price of “black gold” drops from $30 to $12 per barrel. The leadership of the USSR did not expect such huge losses just a year after the start of the anti-alcohol campaign, and then a market bacchanalia began! And then in the 90s, under the auspices of the Monetary Fund, so-called experts came to members of the government and said: “You know, the transition to a market will be such a difficult thing. Millions of people will lose their jobs. God forbid, you will have popular unrest Therefore, we can advise you,” - for some reason the Poles especially liked to advise us (and the United States told them in turn), “to completely allow alcohol, deregulate, completely liberalize the circulation of alcohol, and at the same time allow pornography. And young people will busy. That's what she'll be busy with." And the liberals gladly accepted these “advices”; they quickly realized that a sober society would not allow the country to be plundered: it would be better for people to drink than to take to the streets to demand their rights, to protest against the loss of jobs and lower wages. And this orgy of permissiveness led to monstrous alcoholism. It was then that alcoholism began to surge.
In the USSR itself, people still had no idea how the “attack of the West” would turn out. In the meantime no alcohol law
gives its results. The sober population immediately began to raise demographic indicators. Mortality in the USSR fell sharply; in the first six months alone, mortality from alcohol poisoning dropped by 56%, mortality among men from accidents and violence by 36%. During the period of the anti-alcohol campaign, many residents began to note that it became possible to walk freely in the streets in the evening.
Women who felt the benefits of Prohibition, when meeting with Gorbachev, shouted to him: “Don’t give in to persuasion to abolish Prohibition! At least our husbands saw their children with sober eyes!”
It was during this period that there was an unprecedented surge in the birth rate. Men stopped drinking, and women, feeling confident in “tomorrow,” began to give birth. From 1985 to 1986, there were 1.5 million more children in the country than in previous years. In gratitude to the main reformer, many parents began to name their newborns in his honor. Misha was the most popular name of those years.
Opponents of Prohibition
In 1988, opponents Prohibition, mainly members of the government responsible for the state of the economy, reported that budget revenues were decreasing, the “gold reserve” was melting, the USSR was living on debt, borrowing money from the West. And people such as the Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the USSR (1985-1991) N. Ryzhkov, began to put pressure on M. Gorbachev, demanding the abolition of " Prohibition" These people couldn’t come up with anything better than to start replenishing the budget again by getting their own people drunk.
Ryzhkov - opponent of Gorbachevsky Prohibition
So, let's summarize the results of Prohibition
- No one no alcohol law in our country was not blown up from within, by the people themselves. All cancellations were caused by external pressure from other states (due to a “stab in the back” (agreement on the collapse of oil prices) from the West, which had been waiting for the right moment for so long), the mafia in their own country, the incompetence of bureaucrats who replenished the budget, ruining the health of our own people.
- History shows that as soon as they begin to lift the ban on alcohol and make society drunk, reforms and revolutions immediately begin, which lead to one goal: to weaken our State. A drunken society becomes indifferent to what happens next. A drunk father does not see how his children grow up, and he doesn’t care what happens in his country; he will be more concerned about the “hangover morning”, where he can get more to get over his hangover.
- “does not eliminate all the causes of alcoholism, but it eliminates one of the main ones - the availability of alcoholic products, which will help in the future to achieve absolute sobriety.
- In order to " no alcohol law"was really effective, it is necessary to carry out widespread explanatory work by all media before its introduction and after. The result of this activity should be a voluntary cessation of alcohol consumption by the majority of society, supported by a continuous and rapid decrease in the production of alcoholic beverages (25-30% per year), with their transfer to the category of drugs, as it was before, as well as a comprehensive fight against the shadow economy.
- We also need to fight against the “alcohol custom”, which has been formed in our country for thousands of years and during this time has formed the “alcohol habit”. This is the result of long-term information influence on the people.
- Sobriety is the norm. This is the strategic task. All media, all decision-making bodies, all public organizations, all patriots of our Motherland should work for its approval.
- You can’t follow the lead of those people who shout: look at Gorbachevsky.” semi-prohibition law“, prohibitions only encourage a person to go and do the opposite (by the way, having watched many programs, this is what people say who are not averse to drinking but are in responsible positions). This reasoning is fundamentally incorrect, otherwise these liberals will soon abolish the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (a thick volume filled entirely with prohibitive measures).
Consequences of Prohibition
- Crime has dropped by 70%.
- Beds vacated in psychiatric hospitals were transferred to patients with other diseases.
- The consumption of milk by the population has increased.
- The welfare of the people has improved. Family foundations have strengthened.
- Labor productivity in 1986-1987 increased annually by 1%, which gave the treasury 9 billion rubles.
- The number of absenteeism decreased in industry by 36%, in construction by 34% (one minute of absenteeism on a national scale cost 4 million rubles).
- Savings have increased. 45 billion rubles more were deposited into savings banks.
- For the years 1985-1990, the budget received 39 billion rubles less money from the sale of alcohol. But if we take into account that every ruble received for alcohol incurs a loss of 4-5 rubles, at least 150 billion rubles were saved in the country.
- Morality and hygiene improved.
- The number of injuries and disasters decreased, losses from which decreased by 250 million rubles.
- The death of people from acute alcohol poisoning has almost disappeared. (If it weren’t for the hardened alcoholics who drank everything, there would be no acute poisoning from alcohol at all!!!)
- The overall mortality rate has decreased significantly. The mortality rate of the population of working age decreased in 1987 by 20%, and the mortality rate of men of the same age by 37%.
- Average life expectancy has increased, especially for men: from 62.4 in 1984 to 65 years in 1986. Infant mortality has decreased.
- Instead of the previous dull gloom, working-class families now have prosperity, tranquility and happiness.
- Labor savings were used to furnish apartments.
- Shopping has become more expedient.
- Every year, 45 billion rubles more food products were sold instead of narcotic poisons than before 1985.
- Soft drinks and mineral waters were sold 50% more.
- The number of fires has sharply decreased.
- The women, feeling confident in the future, began to give birth. In Russia in 1987, the number of children born was the highest in the last 25 years.
- In 1985-1987, 200 thousand fewer people died per year than in 1984. In the USA, for example, such a reduction was achieved not in a year, but in seven years.
Friends, you and I have the only weapon left against corrupt bureaucrats - this is our public opinion, do not close your eyes to the problems in Russia, we need to actively fight these problems on the Internet. The only thing that corrupt politicians are afraid of is our unification with you, and our NO to their laws to decompose society. THEY ARE STILL AFRAID OF THE PUBLIC!!!
The entire adult population was outraged by the event that occurred on May 17, 1985. For those who do not know, I will explain: the Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR “On strengthening the fight against drunkenness” was published in the newspaper “Pravda” and entered into force. This decree later went down in history as “Prohibition.”
Most analysts agree that this resolution played a significant role in the collapse and impoverishment of the once great state of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics.
The fight against drunkenness was raised more than once in the Soviet Union, but each time it did not reach serious steps. Take for example Joseph Stalin (Dzhugashvili) - this firm and cruel man could not ban alcohol, including wine, since he was born in Georgia, where drinking wine is an ancient tradition. Brezhnev also liked to drink, so he never passed such a law, although, as Gorbachev said, everyone pushed Brezhnev to do so. Khrushchev did everything in a Western manner and was mainly occupied with agriculture. The other "rulers" of the USSR were in power for too little time. To touch on this issue as well.
Now let’s take a look at all the pros and cons of this decree in order.
In the period 1986-90, the life expectancy of the male population of the state increased by 2.5 years and reached almost 63 years, which by today's standards seems simply unthinkable. There has also been a turning point in the fight against cardiovascular diseases. Crime while intoxicated has decreased several times.
This period in the Soviet plan for building communism was called the Twelfth Five-Year Plan. What this decree did can be understood by assessing the role the sale of alcohol played in the two previous five-year plans. According to some estimates, the production and sale of alcoholic products accounted for 25-30% of budget profitability. So, in the first years of the twelfth five-year plan, the production of vodka, the main traditional folk drink, decreased from 806 million to 60 million liters. This period became a decadent period in many economic aspects: oil prices fell, Chernobyl, and also the “ban” of alcohol. All this led to the fact that for the first time in many years the budget was missing many percent and became deficit! Gorbachev realized and appreciated his mistakes in this matter too late, so some relaxation of the Prohibition Law could no longer save the country from the economic crisis.
The government, when adopting such a law, did not take into account that drinking alcohol has always been a tradition in Rus'. Of course, vodka appeared much later, but we can recall the folk drinks of the pre-revolutionary period: mash, kvass, mead, ratafia. By the way, we can say that drinking alcohol was not only a male characteristic, but also a female one. The drink ratafia was even sometimes called “ladies’ vodka.” Not a single national holiday took place without the consumption of alcoholic beverages; of course, these drinks had a lower strength, but at the same time they were drunk in large quantities. The importance of alcohol in the history of the country can hardly be overestimated; even in fairy tales, fables and other folk works, mention of alcohol is often found. For example, a well-known phrase from Russian fairy tales: “And I was there, honey, drank beer.” Many contemporaries of Emperor Alexander 3 spoke about the ruler’s great addiction to alcohol. At the same time, alcohol did not prevent him from firmly ruling the country; Russia had undeniable authority in Europe.
So, when they talk about the dangers of alcohol on life, and not on health, then I would say that this is a psychological question: if a person is morally sound. Then he can always stop, that is, he knows when to stop.
Restricting the sale of vodka did not have the effect that legislators expected. Instead of people's sobriety, they saw huge lines in stores, people were late for work, students were skipping classes. Those who did not want to stand in lines began to use various chemicals containing alcohol: colognes, glues, various detergents. This led to a large number of deaths among the working population.
Moonshine brewing and the sale of counterfeit vodka have flourished in the country. This phenomenon is still flourishing in Russia, due to high prices for legal alcohol. Pensioners and alcohol-dependent people are ready to drink anything that smells of alcohol, but the state and government don’t care. That thousands of our compatriots are dying from “scorched” vodka, because they cannot afford expensive, high-quality products.
One of those who ruined our country, the first President of Russia Boris Nikolayevich Yeltsin, himself a big drinker, made the only right decision - he abolished the state monopoly on vodka. Gradually, excise taxes on the sale of alcohol amounted to 50 billion rubles (3-5% of the budget). Although if underground alcohol production is strictly suppressed, this figure could increase several times.
