Russia now considers beer to be alcohol!

[dpodblood]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-14232970

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has signed a bill that officially classifies beer as alcoholic.

Until now anything containing less than 10% alcohol in Russia has been considered a foodstuff.

The move, signed into law on Wednesday, will allow ministers to control the sale of beer in the same way that spirits are controlled.

Russian alcohol consumption is already twice the critical level set by the World Health Organization.

Although vodka has long been the traditional tipple in Russia, beer has soared in popularity, being marketed as a healthier alternative to spirits.

Over the past decade, beer sales in Russia have risen more than 40% while vodka sales have fallen by nearly 30%.

Correspondents say it is common to see people swigging beer in the street and in parks as if they are drinking soft drinks.

It is not restricted to certain stores and is sold around the clock.

"The law brings some order into the sale of beer," Vadim Drobiz, director of the Centre for Federal and Regional Alcohol Market Studies, told US broadcaster Bloomberg.

Last year the Russian beer industry was hit by a 200% tax hike on its products as ministers sought to bring consumption under control.

The new measures - which come into effect in 2013 - will stop alcohol being sold in unlicensed kiosks, ban its sale from stores between certain hours and restrict its advertising.

In 2009 President Medvedev ordered the government to prepare draft laws on a package of measures to counter growing alcohol abuse.

It's hard to believe beer was never considered alcohol before, and really points to the nations major alcohol abuse issues. I can't imagine being able to freely drink beer in public just as if it was a can of pop.

 

[Beev]

Wow, anything less than 10% wasn't alcoholic? That's nuts.

 

[AstroManLuca]

I recently edited a journal article about Kvass, a Russian drink made from rye bread. Apparently there's a fair amount of nationalistic pride in the drink, and it's traditionally been homemade and sold on the street. The alcohol content is lower than beer. I did find an article from a few weeks ago saying Kvass would be sheltered from the new law, but the BBC article doesn't mention it. I wonder if they'll have to brew it at 0.5% alcohol or lower in order to continue selling it on the street.

 

[Anubis]

russia just got slightly less awesome

 

[Perknose]

russia just got slightly less awesome

After the break-up of the USSR, they went through a very special kind of "awesome." D:

Abstract

Context.— Russian life expectancy has fallen sharply in the 1990s, but the impact of the major causes of death on that decline has not been measured.
Objective.— To assess the contribution of selected causes of death to the dramatic decline in life expectancy in Russia in the years following the breakup of the Soviet Union.
Design.— Mortality and natality data from the vital statistics systems of Russia and the United States.
Setting.— Russia, 1990-1994.
Population.— Entire population of Russia.
Main Outcome Variables.— Mortality rates, life expectancy, and contribution to change in life expectancy.
Methods.— Application of standard life-table methods to calculate life expectancy by year, and a partitioning method to assess the contribution of specific causes of death and age groups to the overall decline in life expectancy. United States data presented for comparative purposes.
Results.— Age-adjusted mortality in Russia rose by almost 33% between 1990 and 1994. During that period, life expectancy for Russian men and women declined dramatically from 63.8 and 74.4 years to 57.7 and 71.2 years, respectively, while in the United States, life expectancy increased for both men and women from 71.8 and 78.8 years to 72.4 and 79.0 years, respectively. More than 75% of the decline in life expectancy was due to increased mortality rates for ages 25 to 64 years. Overall, cardiovascular diseases (heart disease and stroke) and injuries accounted for 65% of the decline in life expectancy while infectious diseases, including pneumonia and influenza, accounted for 5.8%, chronic liver diseases and cirrhosis for 2.4%, other alcohol-related causes for 9.6%, and cancer for 0.7%. Increases in cardiovascular mortality accounted for 41.6% of the decline in life expectancy for women and 33.4% for men, while increases in mortality from injuries (eg, falls, occupational injuries, motor vehicle crashes, suicides, and homicides) accounted for 32.8% of the decline in life expectancy for men and 21.8% for women.
Conclusion.— The striking rise in Russian mortality is beyond the peacetime experience of industrialized countries, with a 5-year decline in life expectancy in 4 years' time. Many factors appear to be operating simultaneously, including economic and social instability, high rates of tobacco and alcohol consumption, poor nutrition, depression, and deterioration of the health care system. Problems in data quality and reporting appear unable to account for these findings. These results clearly demonstrate that major declines in health and life expectancy can take place rapidly.