Glasnost in Russia Now Extends to the Inebriated
A firm in central Russia is offering a new service to drunks--a card with a printed plea to take them home that can be pinned to their coats.
Postfactum news agency said the card, available in the city of Kazan on the Volga River, reads: “I am drunk today. If I fail to find my way home, please take me to the following address. . . .”
The agency said Sunday that the cards, selling for 3 rubles (about 2 cents) each, are in high demand.
Under the old Soviet system, police picked up drunks from the streets and took them to special “sobering-up stations.” Detainees could lose their jobs or face 15 days of forced labor.
Police now step in only if drunks turn violent.
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