Thread: sweeping changes in alcohol laws

I think Russia should take more drastic action than that to stop their alcohol problems.
Admittedly I haven't been in Russia since...... an eternity.... but the stereotype about Russians and boozing is so strong that it has to be true.

I'd personally give Putin (actually, I'd prefer Medvedev) a tour of "Systembolaget (Sweden)", "Alko" (Finland) and whatever the Norwegian equivalent is called (forgotten).
It's a kind of rather old fashioned state owned alcohol outlet which is a monopoly and only sells at certain hours, to sober people over 20. They are trying to modernize a bit but in the countryside it's really backwards.
However, this system really works.

The only thing they can't stop is people making their own, or drinking ethanol. But no doubt that already happens in Russia.
It brings in a lot of money to the state too.

Incredibly frustrating for normal people who are not alcoholics to have to queue up to buy a bottle of wine for dinner....
But it probably reduces antisocial boozing with at least 2/3.

There is nothing more tragic than when a person boozes his life away and ruins the life of his/her family along the way.

By the way, is it true that Georgian wines are banned in Russia after the war in 2008?

Originally Posted by Hanna

By the way, is it true that Georgian wines are banned in Russia after the war in 2008?

This is indeed true. It is extremely hard to find Georgian wine in Russia nowadays. I looked for it on the menu at a Georgian restaurant in Moscow last summer and at one in Kazan this summer and didn't have any luck finding any. A friend of mine who taught English in Georgia last year told me that the ban is still quite in effect.

It's a kind of rather old fashioned state owned alcohol outlet which is a monopoly and only sells at certain hours, to sober people over 20.

You cannot buy alcohol in normal shops in Sweden?

Originally Posted by Hanna

By the way, is it true that Georgian wines are banned in Russia after the war in 2008?

This makes me laugh because it looks to be one of those very old Soviet propaganda posters, but in all reality it's from a 2006 copy of Komsomol'skaya Pravda