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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.