Heh, but drugs are a bit off the point of this thread so.. to talk about that we would have to start a new one. Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image!
prohibition was there since soviet times... why I dont know... to keep the population healthy? people are allowed to drink alcohol however and as I'v noticed drinking only became popular in the early 90's because in socialist days no one drank themselvs stupid.. it was more of friendly get togethers and only alcoholics went to pubs and bars. now however everyone drinks.
there were very serious prohibition laws before that .. from what i'v heard from people police were very strict to drunks and etc in the 50's 60's
Ah, I see. I only know that in the 80s when that last law was in place, then illegal alchocol trading flourished in all corners. In our city there even was a whole street unofficially dedicated to this sole purpose.
Ye it's hard to tell in which direction russia will go, on one hand its economy is gradually rising due to oil export but as soon as the stock depleats it will yet again be in serious financial trouble, unless people around the world become addicted to vodka and will be willing to buy it at 100 dollars per bottle Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image!.
So prohibition first came in the 50's (do you know the exact year)? And that was for all drugs, and then they lifted alcohol in the 80's?
Sorry, those origins and their carriers were butchered by Ivan Grozny >400 years ago. Nothing since that time came close to democracy (even October revolution). I read Russian forums from time to time. Man, the event in Ukraine highlighted Russian political preferences clearly. No, it's not democracy of any kind. It's a strange mix of political systems of Hitler's Germany&Russian Empire&USSR. Anti-Western/anti-democratic sentiments, fear, paranoia are at all times high in the mother Russia.
There was no prohibition as such. Drugs were never very popular in the former USSR (except smoking pot in Central Asia republics). Vodka was/is #1. Drug use picked up in 1980th and are going steady up since then. One could legally grow poppy in a private garden in early 1980th (it's a crime today). At that time, most people had no clue/ideas to make drugs out of poppy. There are very few areas (if any) to grow potent pot in Russia. Actually, hemp together with flax were traditional (in the sense historical) crops for making linen/ropes in Russia. Also, i was grown in USSR on the large scale until late 1970th (I guess, I am not sure about exact dates). Probably, it was not a good pot to smoke Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image! so vodka remained a king. In USSR, people were prohibited (fined and/or imprisoned if discovered) to make home made vodka. Vodka production was a state monopoly (and very important source of revenue) both in tzarist Russia and USSR. State was both the producer of vodka and the fighter of alcoholism among its citizens. Gorby (know him?) has tried to curb vodka production/consumption a little in the 1980th. Nothing good came out of the attempt (except modest boost to the average life span of a soviet citizen). Today, if you have nuff of $ to bribe police/mafia (or to share profits), you can smoke/sell whatever you want. But vodka is still #1.
That is compleat BS youths still drink vodka in massive ammounts it's the most popular source of being drunk, lager is what they drink in the day time however; to pass the time or buy it if they are short on $$$.
My last visit was in the depth of winter to Moskva and also to NoyaBirsk in Western Siberia. I hope to be in Moskva again in February.
