September 11 – All-Russian Day of Sobriety

September 11 is the official Sobriety Day in Russia. This day is intended to once again remind our citizens that drunkenness is evil, and the rejection of the “green snake” is the way to a long and healthy life.

The fight against drunkenness in Russia has been going on for more than a century. The All-Russian Day of Sobriety was first held back in 1913 at the initiative of church ministers. Instructed drunkards on the true path in many ways. Only in the Soviet Union there were five anti-alcohol campaigns, the last of which in 1985-1990 practically deprived the country of vineyards.

I must say that the struggle for sobriety in our country was carried out with varying success. And even the inclusion of the “most important of the arts” did not help much in this. The most famous “cinema alcoholics” Coward, Dunce and Experienced caused and cause laughter, well, maybe some regret, but not a desire to do away with alcohol forever. Sad drunkard Afonya, drunken by friends Zhenya Lukashin, Andrey Buzykin’s neighbor Vasily, who made a foreign professor drunk, and many, many other heroes of Soviet cinema, designed to turn the population away from strong drinks, it is worth admitting, they succeeded little in this.

In addition, it is only by irony of fate that September 11 from Soviet times celebrated and another holiday – the Day of the faceted glass. Moreover, it is quite historically justified for itself – it is believed that it was on this day in 1943 that the first Soviet faceted glass was made at the glass factory in Gus-Khrustalny, designed by Vera Mukhina. The one with the rim that drinkers “borrowed” from soda machines in order to “figure out for three.”

Although in recent years there have been some achievements in the fight for sobriety. And if neither the state nor the church can completely eradicate evil, then at least the culture of drinking has become better. Yes, and the younger generation, although they choose not Pepsi, but energy drinks, they drink alcohol many times less than a dozen years ago. True, not everything is smooth here either: according to VTsIOM, in 2021 only beer alcoholics were counted among girls by 19%, and among boys by almost 33%. At the same time, the average age of young drunkards is 17 years. And this means that there are teenagers among them.

By the way, beer, as the VTsIOM poll found out, is the most popular alcoholic drink among Russians. In second place – vodka, in the third – wine. But cognac, whiskey, tequila, gin or, for example, moonshine are consumed by less than 15% of the inhabitants of Russia. However, it should be noted here that cocktails, which include these drinks, were not taken into account in the survey.

In general, judging by the figures announced at a recent press conference by Deputy Minister of Health of the Russian Federation Oleg Salagay, over 13 years, per capita alcohol consumption in our country has decreased by 40%. And people with alcohol addiction last year counted 1.2 million. True, the numbers are a tricky thing. Here, according to the Sober Russia project, almost every fourth adult Russian drinks something intoxicating every two days or even every day. A little bit, but still…

In general, September 11 is a good reason, if not to start a new, alcohol-free life, then at least to think about it. In Moscow, by the way, it will be easier to do this. Since the capital on September 10 and 11 notes its 875th anniversary, the city authorities have limited the sale of alcoholic beverages near the sites where the festive festivities will take place. So, maybe on the All-Russian Day of Sobriety it is better to go to a celebration in honor of the birthday of Moscow and have fun from the heart without any alcohol. Moreover, as weather will favor it.

Alena Bodrienko.

Photo by Andrey Nikerichev / Moskva Agency