This story really presents the sad state of affairs in Russia since communisms fall, i realize that Communisim was no cakewalk for the poeple their either, but it kinda makes you wonder what might have been had the transition been better aided and not resulted in a near cataclysmic economic collapse.
Toronto Star wrote: Homemade hooch kills 42,000 Russians a year
Problem has contributed to troubled country's falling population
Jun. 23, 2006. 11:09 AM
ASSOCIATED PRESS
TorStar
MOSCOW — Forty-two thousand Russians die each year from drinking homemade alcohol, the country's interior minister said today, reinforcing concern about high rates of alcohol abuse in Russia.
Rashid Nurgaliyev was quoted by the Interfax news agency as saying that the problem — which has contributed to a sharp decline in Russia's population since the collapse of the Soviet Union — was a national tragedy.
Homemade alcohol, known as "samogon" in Russian, is common and eau de cologne, aftershave products and cleaning fluids are also drunk.
From 1991 to 2001, alcohol consumption in Russia increased about 40 per cent, according to the World Health Organization.
Russia's population is dropping by about 700,000 a year. Experts attribute the plunge to economic turmoil that has badly hurt the state health care system, leading to a drop in birth rates and life expectancy.
Increased poverty, alcoholism, soaring crime and emigration have also taken their toll. Average life expectancy is just 66 years — 16 years lower than Japan and 14 years lower than the European Union average.