Drunks, Illegal Spirits Noted : Soviets Urge More Sober Campaign on Alcoholism

The top Soviet leadership is unhappy with the results of the national campaign to reduce drunkenness.

The Communist Party’s Central Committee and the Politburo have both warned recently that more must be done to fight alcoholism.

The Central Committee, which is expected to take up the subject at its semiannual meeting this month, took note of the reappearance of drunks in the street and an increase in the production of illegal spirits.

The Central Committee said it is especially disturbed that many party members are not taking seriously enough the anti-alcoholism campaign begun two years ago by Soviet leader Mikhail S. Gorbachev.

Long Winter Cited

The Soviet Union has long had a problem with alcoholism, which, according to many studies, causes the breakup of families, increased medical costs and a devastating loss of productivity through absenteeism.

Sociologists have pointed out that the long, cold Russian winter and the resultant boredom are significant factors in the history of heavy drinking here.

Gorbachev, who is not the first Soviet leader to campaign against excessive drinking, has reduced the business hours of liquor stores, reduced available supplies of wine and brandy and increased the price of vodka.

Still needed, the Politburo said, is more effective propaganda against drinking, more facilities for leisure-time activities and better medical services.

The campaign has not been popular. Men and women still stand in long lines to buy liquor, and housewives complain that in order to buy a bottle of birthday wine, they must wait in line along with drunkards seeking vodka. Wine producers in the south have protested restrictions on their production.

The Central Committee says that home brewing is on the rise, as evidenced by a 10% increase in sugar sales.

“This undermines work to overcome drunkenness and inflicts great economic and moral damage,” the Central Committee said.

The government announced further crackdowns and penalties for producing illegal alcoholic beverages and added that “rational activities should be substituted for drinking.”