HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 1990-02-14, Page 5Fights against
alcoholism
in Russia
BY RAYMOND CANON
When I went off to see for myself
what the Soviet Union was like, the
country was in one of its periodic
fights against alcoholism. Just
about every Russian leader, includ
ing the hard-drinking Stalin, came
to the conclusion that there was too
much drinking of the hard stuff in
the Soviet Union and it had to stop.
By the time I got to Moscow the
campaign in vogue at the time was
something of a big joke but that has
not deterred successive Russian
leaders from trying to succeed
where others had failed.
Mikhail is no exception. He
didn’t fail to note that in the 30
years before he came to power,
consumption of alcohol rose by
about 250 per cent but even this
figure is suspect since a great deal
of the local fire water is of the
jiegal home-brew variety, called
’samogon”. The more pressure is
put on the Russian people to cut
back on drinking, the more the
people resort to illegal stills to
produce enough for their drinking
requirements.
Gorbachev went a bit father than
most Russian leaders in coming to
grips with alcoholism by trying to
set an example. Whenever there
were any official receptions, in
stead of using some form of alcohol
as was the case in the past, he
opted to make his toasts with
mineral water. This was all well
and good if only he had followed it
up with a realistic plan to combat
drinking.
The International
Scene
1 think most of us would agree
that there are two main approach
es. One is to educate people to
drink in moderation, the other is to
prohibit the use of alcohol in any
form. Given that drinking is such a
horrible problem in the U.S.S.R., it
would have been better to have
opted for the first approach. Gor-
gachev, instead, decided to take
the second avenue and prohibition
became the way to go. Just to give
you some idea of how the whole
thing was approached, any Russian
in a position of responsibility who
drank heavily or allowed drinking
to go on in his office was booted
out. Drinking at work or at recep
tions was forbidden while the
police were ordered to clear the
streets of drunks, to locate and
destroy illegal stills and to end any
abuse in the production and sale of
alcohol.
At the same time plans were
carried out to increase the produc
tion of non-alcoholic drinks and to
suggest ways in which people could
entertain themselves without re
sorting to tippling. There was even
to be the Russian version of
Alcoholics Anonymous. Just in
case some people still didn’t get
the point, the price of alcohol was
raised by 15 - 25 per cent in 1985
and another 20 - 25 per cent the
following year. Even old movies
were examined so that drinking
scenes could be cut out.
Mr. Gorbachev may have gone at
his efforts to reform with more
determination than did the pre
vious leaders but unfortunately the
results were, on balance, about the
same. This in spite of the fact that
at first the efforts seem to be
bearing fruit. Sales dropped from
8.4 litres per head in 1985 to 3.3
litres in 1987. However, just when
it appeared that prolonged success
was about to be achieved, the
improvements dropped off and
then started to go into reverse. In
one year the reported cases of
drunkenness at work increased
from 117,000 to 250,000. Getting
drunks off the street was fine but
the police discovered that drinking
dens were being set up that would
get the people off the street, when
the police started to investigate, in
no time they had come across no
less than 20,000 such dens.
By 1989 the state found that it
was getting about the same amount
of revenue from alcohol sales as it
was when the program started.
Production was increased, stores
were open longer and about the
only thing that did not change back
to where it was before was the
price. The two increases which I
mentioned above stayed in place.
All is not lost. The Kremlin
appears to realize now that any
program to reduce drinking is
going to be long term in nature and
is going to involve a great deal of
education. It is also going to be
important to improve on the stan
dard of living in the Soviet Union so
that people do not turn so frequent
ly to drink to get away from all the
drabness.
I can vouch for this drabness.
Even with my limited view of Soviet
society, when I was there I was
nothing short of astounded with
what I saw. The day I came across
the border into Finland, it was like
moving from night into day. For
a person who lives there, coping
with shortages, drabness and a
litany of broken promises, drink is
one of the few things that can bring
a few hours of relief. Mr. Gorbac-
chev does not have too much time
to improve the situation.
-operative educatidj
Barbara O’Connell helps out in the library of Brussels Public
School as part of her work term which began the first of this
month and will be finished in June. Ms. O'Connell was hired
through the Co-op Adult Education Program at Seaforth High
School.
Adult co-op student aids
Brussels Public School
Brussels Public School has ac
quired assistance for their office
and library for the remainder of the
school year in the person of
Barbara O’Connell, a student with
the Co-op Adult Education Pro
gram at Seaforth District High
School.
The program provides adults
with the opportunity to return to
school and complete their educa
tion in a classroom of their peers,
gradually integrating them into
employment areas where they will
gain practical experience.
The 47-year-old Ms. O’Connell
became involved with the program
in October of 1989. “My children
have all grown and left home so I
decided to finish my education. I
approached the people at the
Employment Office to see about
what kind of training and courses I
could take. 1 had originally thought
of correspondence but they sugges
ted this class,’’ she explained.
Along with about 15 other adult
sutdents Ms. O’Connell began her
term working on business courses
at the Grade 12 level. According to
her each member of the class was
asked to make a recommendation
stating where they might like to
work during the work term that
would begin for them in February.
“I came up with the idea of
working here at the school and
referred it to my instructor who
approached Mr. Axtmann about
employing me,’’ said the Brussels
area resident. “And here I am.’’
When her work term is finished
in June, Ms. O’Connell will gradu
ate with a Grade 12 diploma and is
hoping to find employment in an
office.
Letters to the editor
Taxpayer commends Blyth council
Hullett’s Cunningham in
middle of English debate
ED. NOTE:
The following letter appeared in
last week’s issue of The Citizen but
because of an error in transposing
the handwritten letter to type, two
words were changed. In the inter
ests of fairness on this controver
sial subject we are reprinting the
entire letter rather than just a
correction. The Citizen regrets the
error.
bThe Editor,
As a taxpayer and lifetime Blyth
resident, I am following with
interest the remarks made by the
editor, to the editor and from the
parties involved in the council
versus Radford Construction dis
pute.
First of all, I would like to
commend the Blyth council for
spending a few tax dollars to seek
legal advise regarding a very large
amount of public monies. Maybe if
those persons disputing the council
would put the situation into per
spective and disregard pressure
from outside forces, they would
also see the sense of bringing in
legal aid. Let’s change the scene to
private business with this example:
You sign a contract to do a job for
$1,000, the bill arrives at $2,000
and the job is only half done.
Would you pay the $2,000 and
merrily tell the contractor to go
ahead and finish the job and you’ll
be happy to pay antoher $2,000. I
hardly think that you would. I
believe you would probably put up
a fight and if this was public money
the only intelligent course would be
to ask for legal advice.
In reply to the letter in Jan. 31
paper from a local resident, I also
believe that we are fortunate in the
business services and trades that
we have available in our town. I
also agree that over the years local
firms have given greatly to the
needs of our village. However,
times and people change. Busi
nesses get larger, wages get high
er, taxes grown, the “dog eat dog’’
world we live in makes changes
inevitable and business operations
and good will do not remain
constant. None of us can run on the
reputation of our forefathers. The
Letter from the editor
Continued from page 4
quotas to make cautious radio
stations play it). Canadians began
to write and produce plays about
things Canadian (again helped by
government grants) and even
movies started to show Canadian
life. Canadian novelists and short
story writers like our own Alice
Munro became famous around the
world. We seemed on our way to
building a new, confident nation.
And yet ... and yet ... Some
things don’t seem to change. The
Quiet Revolution in Quebec was
dividing Canadians as many resist
ed the new moves to accommodate
Quebecers while others saw in the
proposed bilingualism policy of the
Pearson government, an opportun
ity to build a new distinctive nation
where people of either French or
English extraction could feel at
home wherever they moved in
Canada. They hoped to see the
barriers broken down between the
two solitudes. A quarter century
day of doing business with a hand
shake is long past.
I agree that we have a good
community that is being inflicted
with illness as Mr. Whitmore in his
letter stated. However, I do not
agree that council by asking for
legal advice did anything that
should not have been done. I
believe they are acting in good
faith, spending a few dollars to
protect a lot of tax dollars.
Ula Richmond
Blyth.
later the extremists on both the
Quebec and English Canadian side
have made that dream seem farther
away than ever.
And the new maturity we seem
ed to see coming in our country
seems a fleeting thing. Canada is
still like an awkward teenager,
unsure of standing on its own,
playing up to its big neighbour to
the south as if impressing the
Americans will somehow make us
better instead of just developing a
strong sense of our own worth.
Part of the dreams we had for our
country as the new flag went up
that morning 25 years ago have
been realized but the end of the
dream seems farther away than
ever with the current weariness in
the country, the current feeling we
just can’t keep up the fight
anymore. It would be a shame if the
dreams died. We need to refine
that sense of hope and determina
tion that has brought the country
the good things it now has.
Continued from page 1
municipalities but to provincial
governments, civil servants, and
areas with more than 10 per cent of
their population French-speaking.
That’s my understanding.’’
Mr. Cunningham went on to say
that while he has sympathy for the
municipalities that have opposed
the bill he believes they have done
it for the wrong reasons. “We get
so many things lumped on us from
the government and then they give
us less funds. I feel that the
municipalities were afraid of the
costs they would have in imple
menting the bill and once they
understood they looked at it differ
ently.
Also, he commented on the fact
that there has been some resent
ment to the Quebecois’ treatment
of their English speaking country
men, saying that also may be at the
heart of some things, but “two
wrongs don’t make a right,’’ he
added. “Somewhere along the line,
someone has got to do a better job
Co-ordinator asks for support
for Heart and Stroke month
THE EDITOR,
February is Heart month!
The Heart and Stroke Founda
tion is asking for your support
again to help fight Canada’s No. 1
Killer: heart disease and stroke.
Canadian Researchers have
helped pioneer pacemakers to help
control heart rhythm; heart by-pass
operations; human heart valve
replacement; donor transplant and
so much more. Over 20,000 lives
were saved last year. With your
generous support, this was made
to bring the two groups of people
together.
Having done a good deal of
homework on the legislation, Mr.
Cunningham says that he feels the
public should have been educated
better believing that the rural
politicians well-meaning intentions
- for the most part - were based on
misconceptions. “To my know
ledge there has never been any
intent to bring the legislation into
the municipalities at this time,’’ he
says. “That may change in the
future, but not now and Premier
Peterson said more or less the
same thing.’’
Mr. Cunningham said that for
the majority he felt the resolution
was something they wished wasn’t
there and were uncomfortable with
it, not wanting to enter into a
French-English debate. “Only one
person spoke on it - the Reeve of
Oro - but when I called the vote
there were only a few who opposed
it. As a matter of fact when the
resolution was defeated there was
applause,’’ he finished.
possible When the canvassers call
on you, “Have a Heart!’’
The Canvassers calling on you in
Blyth will be Kathy Bromley, Mary
Holland, Melda McElroy, Connie
Bromley, Linda Stewart, Sheron
S.tadelmann and Mary Lou Stewart.
If you are missed and would like
to donate (as there is a shortage of
canvassers) you may leave it at The
Saga.
Lois van VHet
Co-ordinator of the
Heart & Stroke Foundation
Village of Blyth.