This is What a Harsh Crackdown Looks Like?

It's no secret that Russians love their vodka. The president of Russia doesn't just wander the streets of DC in his underwear for fun -- he did it because he drank too much vodka (I'm speaking of that lovable teddybear Boris Yeltsin, of course). On average, Russians drink a liter and a half of pure alcohol every month (and that's per person).

As Russia's alcohol consumption continues to be a problem (half a million people die a year as a result), President Medvedev announced a war on alcohol last year and he ordered the government to come up with ways to reduce excessive drinking and to cut off black market alcohol. Here's some of the 'get tough' rules the government has come up with: Raising the minimum price of vodka to 89 roubles (about $3 USD...), planning on cutting sales at kiosks, and now city authorities in Moscow have just announced a ban on the sell of liquor (spirits) between 10 PM and 10 AM (though, I think establishments serving food are not affected...). Yevgeny Bryun,the Ministry of Health's chief specialist on alcohol and drug addiction, admitted that people could still drink a ton of vodka in the day and then turn to drinking beer late at night, "but overall, the alcohol burden will be lower." Ha!

The fact that these regulations are considered a crackdown is a pretty good indication of how much they love their vodka. 'Cracking down' means not having alcohol readily available everywhere they go, increasing the cost of vodka so that maybe now only penniless homeless people and small children without an allowance cannot afford it, and not allowing people to buy alcohol in the middle of the night/early in the morning (sorry 3 AM vodka runs). Tough times ahead.