:o Read and weep!
As the old saying goes: "More people are drowned in a glass than in the ocean." Indeed, since 1945 more Russians have died due to alcohol (read: vodka) than the estimated 30 million that were lost to World War II. In a typical year, more than 35,000 Russians die from alcohol poisoning. We're talking "poisoning," not death from long term alcohol abuse! The latter, of course, has only increased since the fall of the Soviet Union. Between 1995 and 2000 alcohol consumption in Russia rose 500 percent to 2.1 billion quarts of vodka every year - that's 28 bottles for every man, woman and child. This figure does not include the "moonshine vodka" or самогонка that is prevalent in rural areas. It was estimated in 2002 that 30 percent of men and 15 percent of women were alcoholics. With statistics like these, life expectancy in Russia will only continue to decrease. One final sobering note: of the 9 million Russian babies born in 1993, only 9% were completely healthy.
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