Anti-alcohol campaign. What damage did Gorbachev's anti-alcohol campaign cause to the economy? The anti-alcohol campaign in the USSR lasted for

On May 16, 1985, the famous Gorbachev decree “On strengthening the fight against drunkenness” was issued. Despite the fact that the anti-alcohol campaign was curtailed after 2 years, its consequences were felt until the end of the 90s.

Urgent measures

Starting to implement the anti-alcohol program, the authorities, as they say, took off right off the bat: alcohol prices jumped 2.5-3 times, 2/3 of points selling alcohol were closed, and the maximum fine for drinking strong drinks in public places reached 100 rubles .

It must be admitted that the draconian measures were justified. The situation with drunkenness in the USSR by the mid-80s had reached a critical level. According to official data alone, there were about 5 million alcoholics in the country, many of them women. Drinking gave rise to low levels of labor productivity, an increase in the number of accidents, an increase in the number of abandoned children and many other problems.

According to the Institute of Sociology of the USSR Academy of Sciences, the annual damage to the national economy from alcohol abuse was estimated at 80 to 100 billion rubles. The situation required urgent intervention by the country's top leadership.

Is there a result

Despite significant excesses, the anti-alcohol campaign brought a number of positive results. In two years of restrictive and prohibitive measures, it was possible to increase the birth rate (by an average of 500 thousand per year), and there were 8% fewer weakened newborns, as well as to increase life expectancy (by 2.6 years). Demographers estimate that Prohibition helped save the lives of at least a million people.

Thanks to the fight against drunkenness, it was possible to establish labor discipline: absenteeism and technical downtime decreased by about 41%. The statistics on traffic accidents and industrial accidents have improved markedly - the number of incidents has decreased by about 30%, and crime has decreased by an impressive 70%.

We won't get drunk, we'll get poisoned

And yet, the anti-alcohol campaign did more harm than good. A sharp decline in the production of alcoholic beverages led to huge queues, in some regions coupons for vodka appeared, and due to the growing scale of moonshine, coupons were also introduced for sugar.

Due to the total shortage of alcohol, the use of surrogates has become widespread: pharmacy tinctures, cologne, technical alcohol, antifreeze. The lack of sugar and yeast had no effect on the production of moonshine, which was often of the lowest quality.

Despite the fact that the number of people poisoned by alcohol has decreased markedly, these figures are more than offset by intoxication from the use of surrogates and non-alcoholic intoxicating substances. It was at this time that the drug trade flourished, which quickly filled the resulting vacuum.

The consequences of Prohibition will reverberate with renewed vigor in the 90s, when the former republics of the Soviet Union will be swept by the “alcohol tsunami”. An unrestrained flow of imported alcohol of dubious quality will lead to an unprecedented increase in alcohol consumption - 16.2 liters per year per capita, which will be perhaps the highest figure in the world.

Dependent budget

The anti-alcohol campaign stimulated the growth of the shadow economy, and, as a result, led to the accumulation of the initial capital of speculators, whose daily profit could reach an astronomical 200% percent.

But the state economic sector from the dry law had only losses. By 1985, the turnover of alcoholic products provided up to 25% of budget revenues; due to the high cost of alcohol, the state could subsidize the prices of bread, milk, and sugar. In the first year of the anti-alcohol campaign alone, the treasury missed at least 37 billion rubles.

In addition to economic problems, the USSR received complications in international relations. Due to the refusal to buy wine, Bulgaria, Romania and Hungary presented claims to the Soviet leadership, offering to replace alcoholic products with other goods in order to somehow compensate for the losses.

Vine under the root

In just a few years of a resolute struggle against drunkenness, irreparable damage was inflicted on domestic winemaking. According to official data, up to 30% of vineyards were destroyed - a third more than they died during the Second World War.

By 1990, the area of ​​vineyards in the RSFSR had decreased from 200,000 hectares to 168,000, and the annual grape harvest fell from 850,000 to 430,000 tons compared to the period of 1981-1985. Moldova suffered more - over 80 thousand hectares of vineyards were uprooted there out of 210 thousand available.

In Crimea, the famous Massandra winery with the world's largest collection of wines is under threat of closure. One of the ideologists of the anti-alcohol campaign, Yegor Ligachev, said during a visit to the plant: “This wine cellar must be destroyed, and Massandra must be closed.” And only a call from the first secretary of the Communist Party of Ukraine, Vladimir Shcherbitsky, to Gorbachev allowed saving the unique plant.

The massive cutting down of vineyards has led to the fact that in Moldova, the Kuban and the North Caucasus, some collectible grape varieties were completely destroyed, for example, Ekim-Kara, from which the Black Doctor wine was made.

The breeding work was also dealt a big blow. Many talented breeders were harassed by the party nomenklatura. One of them is Pavel Golodriga, professor, doctor of biological sciences, director of the Magarach All-Union Research Institute of Winemaking and Viticulture. Unsuccessful attempts to convince Gorbachev to stop the destruction of vineyards forced the scientist to commit suicide.

The mass discontent of the population and the economic crisis that began in 1987 forced the government to gradually curtail the anti-alcohol campaign. And although the fight against drunkenness continued until 1990, the volume of sale and consumption of alcohol began to grow steadily.

People who, at a conscious age, caught the end of the 80s, remember perfectly well what dry law was in the USSR 1985-1991. This period is also called "Gorbachev's dry law." Such a term implied a complete (and somewhere partial) ban on the sale of alcohol-containing products.

The exception was the production of alcohol for the industrial and medical needs of the country. For the world community, such a campaign was not something new. But it was she who was remembered by the citizens of the USSR because of its duration. But was the effectiveness of such a taboo? Was the game worth the candle?

Prohibition Gorbachev became the most memorable among a series of similar experiments

There is one wise folk proverb that advises "learn from the mistakes of others." Unfortunately, it is rare that he understands the meaning of these words, and even more so corresponds to them. Despite the fact that almost all the laws of the economy went through a thorny path of trial and error, the leaders of our country of that time decided not to study the sad experience of other countries.

Prohibition is such a measure that is not able to eliminate all the causes of harmful alcohol addiction. The only thing that such measures can do is to eliminate the availability of alcoholic beverages.

According to the former leaders of the country, such measures should gradually lead to absolute sobriety of all citizens. Few people know that Gorbachev was not the first general secretary who introduced prohibition in the USSR. Citizens of the Soviet Union also faced anti-alcohol campaigns earlier in:

• 1913;
• 1918-1923;
• 1929;
• 1958;
• 1972.

The first attempts to combat widespread drunkenness were made by Nicholas II. At that distant time, against the backdrop of hostilities (World War I), crime due to intoxication increased sharply. This step also contributed to savings on food costs.

Chelyshov M.D. became the founder of the dry law of 1913-1914.

And then came the revolution. The Bolsheviks, carried away by the construction of a new state, were in no hurry to "enrich" the counters of shops and trade shops with alcohol. It wasn't before. Only at the beginning of 1923 people were again able to buy alcohol in an affordable sale.

Stalin, who then came to power, was far from being a stupid person and a talented politician. The communist slogan that now everything “belongs to the common people” actually helped the exhausted country replenish the budget, setting any prices even for low-quality, low-grade alcohol.

Who introduced and who canceled dry laws in Russia

But why is it that only the struggle against drunkenness under the regime of the last leader of the Land of Soviets is so vividly etched in my memory? In those sad years, life in the USSR took place under the auspices of a widespread shortage of goods. The introduced ban on alcohol only exacerbated the already not rosy psychological state of our citizens.. However, such an event had a number of good reasons-grounds.

Background of the Prohibition Organization

Alcohol at that time was perhaps the only way to forget and relax for the population of the USSR. One of the main roles was played by the fact of the lack of motivation to adhere to a sober lifestyle. The salary for everyone was the same regardless of the quality of work, and there were no penalties for drinking alcohol.

The statistics of that time are staggering: between 1960 and 1980, deaths from alcohol abuse quadrupled.

For every citizen of the USSR in 1984, there were 25-30 liters of pure alcohol (even including babies). While in the country of the pre-revolutionary period, this figure was 3-4 liters.

How did the "dry period" begin?

Another dry law in Russia was planned to be introduced in the early 80s. But the anti-alcohol campaign was postponed due to a series of ascensions to the throne and the sudden deaths of the leaders of the Land of Soviets. The main initiators of the taboo were the following members of the Politburo of the Central Committee:

1. Solomentsev Mikhail Sergeevich.
2. Ligachev Egor Kuzmich.

They, like Andropov, were deeply convinced that the causes of economic stagnation were the growing mass alcoholism of the people. It was in drunkenness that the leaders of the highest echelon of power saw a general decline in moral, moral values ​​and negligence in work.

Promotion of a sober lifestyle in the USSR has acquired grandiose proportions

Gorbachev's dry law was truly gigantic. For the sake of combating general public drunkenness, the state even sharply reduced its own revenues from the sale of alcoholic beverages.

The essence of the anti-alcohol campaign

Gorbachev, a promising and promising politician, was well aware of the existing problem and supported a large-scale ban on the sale of alcohol throughout the USSR. The famous anti-alcohol campaign began on May 17, 1985. The new project had the following program:

1. It was forbidden to sell alcohol to persons under the age of 21.
2. Advertising of wine-vodka products and the drinking process itself were also prohibited. This affected television, radio, theater and cinema.
3. A complete ban on the sale of vodka products in all catering establishments, with the exception of restaurants.
4. Prevention of trade in alcohol near educational institutions of all types, hospitals, health resorts, industrial facilities and places of recreation.
5. The time period for the sale of alcohol also fell under the restriction. Alcohol was now available only from two in the afternoon until seven in the evening.
6. Alcoholic products were allowed to be sold only in strictly specialized departments / places. The number of such points was regulated by local officials.

The government planned to gradually reduce the production of alcoholic beverages, and by 1988 completely stop the production of wines. Leading members of the CP and heads of enterprises were strictly forbidden to drink alcohol up to their expulsion from the Communist Party.

What did this law achieve?

Gorbachev's large-scale anti-alcohol campaign had a number of positive and negative aspects. According to the statistical data collected by 1988, the result of Prohibition was the following results.

Negative points

Over all the expanses of a vast country, almost instantly and unexpectedly for citizens, more than 2/3 of the shops selling alcohol ceased to exist. Alcohol was now available for purchase between 14:00 and 19:00. The most famous vineyards of Moldova, the Caucasus and the Crimea were destroyed.

What Prohibition Opponents Are Saying

One of the main and sad losses from Prohibition was the irretrievable loss of unique grape wine varieties, the oblivion of ancient traditions in the production of exclusive collection wines.

But on the emerging deficit there will always be enterprising citizens who want to earn extra money. Cunning "businessmen" were instantly formed in times of alcohol shortage. Such merchants at that time were known as "speculators, hucksters."

But, because of the existing Iron Curtain, the borders of the USSR were tightly covered, so the underground trade in alcohol was not as massive as during a similar campaign in the United States. At that time, vodka even became a bargaining chip, for it they willingly agreed to earn extra money and goof off.

In some regions, vodka began to be sold on coupons

Moonshine brewing grew powerfully, at the same time a new class of alcoholics arose - people suffering from substance abuse. Having lost their usual dose of alcohol, the population dependent on it switched to another buzz. Mostly sniffed various chemical reagents.

According to confirmed medical data, people suffering from substance abuse degrade much faster than alcoholics.

Due to the growing moonshine brewing, sugar coupons were introduced. But people quickly switched to pharmacy tinctures, antifreezes, perfumes and colognes. Meanwhile, the ruling elite, fiercely fighting against the consumption of alcohol, was not limited in this and willingly drank alcohol itself - these were foreign-made alcoholic beverages.

Drunkenness at that time was fought mercilessly and recklessly. Brochures and leaflets about the dangers of alcohol were distributed in huge quantities, scenes of alcohol consumption were cut out from movies. And the people slowly degraded.

Positive sides

However, it is worth recognizing that there were much more positive moments in such an event. What did Gorbachev's dry law give the people?

1. There was a sharp jump in the birth rate.
2. The number of patients in psychiatric hospitals has decreased.
3. Reducing the number of crimes committed on the basis of alcohol abuse.
4. Mortality from alcohol consumption and poisoning has dropped to almost zero.
5. For the first time in the history of the Soviet Union, there was a sharp decrease in the death rate.
6. Increased indicators of labor discipline. Absenteeism and technical downtime decreased by 38-45%.
7. The average life expectancy of men has increased. During Prohibition, it was 65-70 years.
8. Decreased statistics and incidents. The number of accidents at work, car accidents decreased by 30%.
9. The financial income of the people has increased. At that time, savings banks noted a sharp increase in cash deposits from the population. Citizens brought for storage 40 million rubles more than in the previous period.

Pros and cons in comparison

Alternative opinion of the opponents of the "prohibition"

Gorbachev's anti-alcohol campaign had many opponents. After a full-scale study, the experts cited a lot of arguments that called into question all the positive aspects of the Prohibition. They sound like this:

Statistics don't reflect reality. Gorbachev created an artificial shortage of basic foodstuffs and alcohol in the country. The people managed to make up for it with moonshine, which was then brewed in almost every third family. Therefore, the data given in the statistics are not reliable.

The increase in the birth rate was not really due to the "prohibition". In fact, faith in the near future, in the new life that perestroika promised, led to an increase in the number of women in childbirth. People at that time simply had a good emotional upsurge and confidence that life was about to improve.

Anecdotes of the USSR during the Gorbachev Prohibition

Statistics do not give all the numbers. Speaking about the decrease in alcoholics, the statistics did not say anything about a sharp increase in the number of drug addicts. Many people smoothly moved from scarce alcohol to more affordable and much more dangerous drugs.

The same can be said about the emphasis on reducing mortality from cardiovascular problems. This indicator, indeed, has decreased, but another has increased - death from the use of toxic substances, drugs.

Most opponents of the anti-alcohol campaign said that Gorbachev weaned people not from drunkenness, but from drinking good and high-quality alcohol, transplanting the country into a surrogate and substance abuse.

Reasons for stopping the anti-alcohol campaign

The main culprit for the termination of the Gorbachev event is the economy. Insidious science dealt a crushing blow to the country's budget. After all, the alcohol industry brought a solid profit to the treasury, generously filling it with

On March 11, 1985, Mikhail Gorbachev took over as Secretary General of the Central Committee of the CPSU and became the last head of the then still great and powerful state. He began his activity with a global restructuring of the system, one of the first stages of which was the anti-alcohol campaign.

The goal of Gorbachev's anti-alcohol campaign

Gorbachev immediately set a course for the active acceleration of the socio-economic development of the state and set about implementing the anti-alcohol program, which they began to jointly prepare in the Central Committee under Brezhnev. However, Leonid Ilyich himself did not consider it a priority and did not support it.

It must be admitted that Gorbachev had the best of intentions. In an interview, he said that the situation with mass drunkenness had reached a critical point by that time. Almost half of the adult male population has crossed the line of alcoholism, and women have become addicted to a glass. Drunkenness at work, a large number of accidents, children abandoned by alcoholic parents to their fate - all these problems required an immediate solution. And then Mikhail Sergeevich decided to fight the situation radically, as they say, slashed from the shoulder.

Global plans and their implementation

On May 16, 1985, the Presidium under the leadership of Gorbachev issued a decree "On strengthening the fight against drunkenness." The global anti-alcohol campaign has rapidly begun to gain momentum.

The main ways of implementation, tangible for the population:

● increase in prices for alcohol by 2 or more times;
● a general decrease in the number of liquor outlets;
● limited time of sale (exclusively from 14.00 to 19.00);
● tougher penalties for drinking alcohol in public places (including city parks, railway trains).

The campaign was launched in a big way. A healthy lifestyle, alcohol-free weddings, anniversaries and other festive events were promoted everywhere. Non-alcoholic champagne appeared on sale, which was offered to replace the real one. But the excesses did not end there either, it was just the harmless tip of the "non-alcoholic" iceberg.

Consequences of the anti-alcohol campaign of 1985-1990

The people were not ready, by order of the Central Committee, to give up their addiction and stop drinking. Simultaneously with the beginning of Gorbachev's non-alcoholic campaign, the development of the Soviet era of moonshine, underground trade in alcohol and speculation in liquor began. Moonshine and vodka from under the floor were traded by enterprising citizens and taxi drivers. The main "raw materials" for moonshine brewing disappeared from the stores - sugar, which soon began to be sold on coupons, and long queues lined up in the liquor departments.

The use of a dubious alcohol surrogate led to massive outbreaks of poisoning. They drank industrial alcohol, cologne, denatured alcohol and other dangerous substances containing degrees. Drug traffickers tried to partially fill the "vacuum niche" - it was then that the growth of drug addiction began, which became a global problem.

But the biggest damage was done to the vineyards. According to available data, about 30% were destroyed - this is a third more than the losses during the Second World War. In Moldova, in the Crimea, in the Kuban, in the North Caucasus, some unique collectible grape varieties were completely exterminated, and selection work was prohibited. The persecution of talented breeders began, who devoted their whole lives to this.

And anti-alcohol shock therapy also caused serious damage to the country's economy, which was not in the best position from the very beginning of perestroika.

Positive results or embellished facts?

After the start of the anti-alcohol campaign, local people joyfully reported about an increase in the birth rate, a decrease in crime and an increase in life expectancy. However, in reality it did not look quite like that. It was in those years that the real rampant criminality began, so it would be more correct to call the data on the reduction of crime wishful thinking. And historians and political scientists are more inclined to associate the growth in the birth rate and the increase in life expectancy with the fact that people were promised a beautiful life and they believed the slogans and perked up.

Summing up

The anti-alcohol campaign in any country of the world did not give the expected results. It is necessary to fight against drunkenness not by prohibitions, but by raising the standard of living.

On May 7, 1985, the Decree of the Central Committee of the CPSU "On measures to overcome drunkenness and alcoholism" and the Decree of the Council of Ministers of the USSR "On measures to overcome drunkenness and alcoholism, eradicate moonshine" were adopted, which ordered all party, administrative and law enforcement agencies to decisively and everywhere intensify the fight against drunkenness and alcoholism, and a significant reduction in the production of alcoholic beverages, the number of places for their sale and the time of sale was envisaged. Thus, this resolution launched the so-called Gorbachev anti-alcohol campaign.

On May 16, 1985, the Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR “On strengthening the fight against drunkenness and alcoholism, the eradication of home-brewing” was issued, which reinforced this struggle with administrative and criminal penalties. Corresponding Decrees were adopted simultaneously in all Union republics.

The state for the first time went to reduce revenues from alcohol, which were a significant item in the state budget, and began to sharply reduce its production. After the start of the fight against drunkenness in the country, a large number of shops selling alcoholic beverages were closed. Quite often on it the complex of anti-alcohol actions in a number of regions came to an end. In particular, the first secretary of the Moscow City Committee of the CPSU, Viktor Grishin, closed many alcohol stores and reported to the Central Committee that the work on sobering up in Moscow had been completed. The prices for vodka rose several times: popular vodka, popularly nicknamed "Andropovka", which cost 4 rubles before the start of the campaign. 70 k., disappeared from the shelves, and since August 1986 the cheapest vodka cost 9 rubles. 10 k.

In addition, tough measures were taken against drinking alcohol in parks and squares, as well as on long-distance trains. Those caught drunk had serious trouble at work. For the use of alcohol in the workplace - fired from work and expelled from the party. Dissertation defense banquets were banned, and alcohol-free weddings were promoted. So-called "sobriety zones" appeared, in which alcohol was not sold.

Trade unions, the entire education and healthcare system, all public organizations and even creative unions were also necessarily drawn into the anti-alcohol campaign. Sobriety propaganda was also organized, one of the stages of which was the distribution of an article by Academician of the USSR Academy of Medical Sciences Fyodor Uglov about the dangers and inadmissibility of alcohol consumption under any circumstances and that drunkenness is not characteristic of the Russian people. Censorship removed and paraphrased the texts of literary works and songs, cut out alcohol scenes from theatrical productions and movies.

Strict requirements for the refusal of alcohol began to be presented to members of the CPSU, who were also required to join the sobriety society.
The campaign had an extremely negative impact on the wine industry and its raw material base - viticulture. In particular, appropriations for laying vineyards and caring for plantings were sharply reduced, and taxation of farms was increased. The main directive document determining the paths for the further development of viticulture was the Main Directions for the Social and Economic Development of the USSR for 1986-1990 and for the period up to 2000, approved by the XXVII Congress of the CPSU, which stated: “To carry out a radical restructuring of the structure of viticulture in the Union republics, orienting primarily for the production of table grape varieties.

In Moldova, during the anti-alcohol campaign, 80 thousand hectares of vineyards out of 210 thousand were destroyed, and their defenders from the actions of the authorities could receive a prison sentence.

From 1985 to 1990, the area of ​​vineyards in Russia was reduced from 200 to 168 thousand hectares, the restoration of uprooted vineyards was halved, and the laying of new ones was not carried out at all. The average annual grape harvest fell compared to the period 1981-1985 from 850,000 to 430,000 tons.

During the years of the anti-alcohol campaign, the officially registered per capita sales of alcohol in the country decreased by more than 2.5 times. In 1985-1987, a decrease in the state sale of alcohol was accompanied by an increase in life expectancy, an increase in the birth rate, and a decrease in mortality. During the period of the anti-alcohol regulation, 5.5 million newborns were born per year, 500 thousand more per year than every year for the previous 20-30 years, and 8% less were born weakened. The life expectancy of men increased by 2.6 years and reached the maximum value in the entire history of Russia, and the overall level of crime decreased.

At the same time, the real decrease in alcohol consumption was less significant, mainly due to the development of home brewing, as well as illegal production of alcoholic products at state-owned enterprises. The increase in moonshine production led to a shortage in the retail sale of raw materials for moonshine - sugar, and then - cheap sweets, tomato paste, peas, cereals, etc., which led to an increase in public discontent. The shadow market of artisanal alcohol, which existed before, received significant development during these years - vodka added to the list of goods that needed to be “gotten”. Speculation in alcohol reached unthinkable proportions, even the products of large distilleries were completely bought up by speculators who received 100-200% of the profit per day. Despite the decrease in the total number of alcohol poisonings, the number of poisonings with alcohol-containing surrogates and non-alcoholic intoxicants has increased (in particular, the practice of adding dichlorvos to beer in order to increase intoxication has become widespread), and the number of drug addicts has also increased.

Aimed at the "moral recovery" of Soviet society, the anti-alcohol campaign in reality achieved completely different results. In the mass consciousness, it was perceived as an absurd initiative of the authorities, directed against the "common people". For persons widely involved in the shadow economy, and the party and economic elite, alcohol was still available, and ordinary consumers were forced to “get” it.

The decline in alcohol sales caused serious damage to the Soviet budget system, as the annual retail turnover fell by an average of 16 billion rubles. The damage to the budget turned out to be unexpectedly large: instead of the previous 60 billion rubles of income, the food industry brought in 38 billion in 1986 and 35 billion in 1987. Until 1985, alcohol provided about 25% of budget revenues from retail trade, due to high prices it was possible to subsidize it prices for bread, milk, sugar and other products. The losses from the reduction in the sale of alcohol were not compensated, by the end of 1986 the budget, in fact, collapsed.

Mass dissatisfaction with the campaign and the economic crisis that began in the USSR in 1987 forced the Soviet leadership to curtail the fight against the production and consumption of alcohol. Although the decrees that restricted the sale and consumption of alcohol were not repealed (for example, the formal ban on the sale of alcohol before 2 pm was only lifted on July 24, 1990), active promotion of sobriety was stopped, and alcohol sales went up.

In 2005, on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of the anti-alcohol campaign, Gorbachev remarked in an interview: "Because of the mistakes made, a good big deal ended ingloriously." According to a survey conducted in the same year, 58% of Russians generally positively assess the anti-alcohol campaign. However, only 15% believe that it has brought positive results.

The anti-alcohol campaign among the people gave rise to many anecdotes and jokes. In particular, Secretary General Mikhail Gorbachev began to be called the "mineral secretary" and "Lemonade Joe", as well as the main ideologist of the fight against drunkenness Yegor Ligachev. There were also such popular short ditties “A rooster sings at six in the morning, Pugacheva at eight. The store is closed until two, Gorbachev has the key”, “For a week, until the second”, we will bury Gorbachev. If we dig up Brezhnev, we will continue to drink.”

In May 1985, a new mass anti-alcohol campaign begins in the Soviet Union. To eradicate drunkenness, all means were used: from promoting a healthy lifestyle to cutting down vineyards. However, the results were very contradictory, the population was dissatisfied, and soon the campaign had to be curtailed. The author of the site, Nikolai Bolshakov, recalls how this campaign went.

New campaign

Anti-alcohol campaigns in the Soviet Union were carried out more than once. 1918, 1929, 1958, 1972 - all these years were marked by a mass struggle against drunkenness. But the most famous was the campaign initiated by Mikhail Gorbachev. Having come to power, the Secretary General understood that alcohol consumption had become massive. On average, per capita accounted for ten liters of alcohol consumed per year, and this had to be dealt with somehow. This was well understood not only by the newly-made head of the USSR, but also by Yegor Ligachev, together with Mikhail Solomentsev, who became the ideological inspirers of this campaign. Gorbachev shared his future plans with citizens when he visited Leningrad during his first trip as General Secretary in May 1985. And on May 7, Decree No. 410 “On measures to overcome drunkenness and alcoholism and eradicate moonshine” from the Council of Ministers was officially issued. It is with this resolution that the anti-alcohol campaign in the USSR begins.

Mikhail Gorbachev, along with Yegor Ligachev, one of the inspirers of the campaign

Offensive on all fronts

The campaign immediately had its own slogan: "Sobriety is the norm of life." And the loudest mouthpiece of this large-scale movement was the newspaper Pravda. “The use of alcoholic beverages at work, in public places should be considered completely unacceptable, such cases should be regarded as immoral, antisocial behavior, using the full force of the law and public opinion against drunkards,” the editorial of this publication wrote.

Now movies were neatly cut out of feast scenes and alcohol-free weddings were encouraged. Alcohol itself could only be obtained strictly at a certain time, and this is from two to seven in the afternoon, and strictly in special stores. Fines were increased for appearing in a state of intoxication, it was forbidden to drink during production. Sobriety and healthy lifestyle societies were organized all over the country. In general, it was planned to gradually reduce the production of vodka by ten percent every year, and stop producing wine products altogether by 1989. Therefore, the anti-alcohol war caused great damage to the wine industry.

Queues in shops for alcohol beat all records

The anti-alcohol campaign dealt a heavy blow to the wine industry

In Moldova and in Abrau-Dyurso, where wine is a traditional product of production, and in many other places, vineyards were massively cut down. According to official data, 80,000 hectares of vineyards were destroyed in the Moldavian SSR alone.

Conflicting results

The most active phase of the campaign took place from 1985 to 1987. It will be announced that more than a million deaths have been prevented through such actions. In fact, the production of alcoholic beverages was halved, and the production of wine products was cut by two-thirds. But all these actions to combat drunkenness had a negative impact on the population. First of all, speculation grew sharply, the demand for sugar and other goods, among which were toothpaste, cologne, and other alcohol-containing products, increased many times over. Every tenth employee from the trade sector was accused of speculation, and more than 60 thousand people were held liable for violating the sale of alcohol.

Near the shops everywhere there were fights and long queues. Many people have switched to moonshine. Also, many drug addicts and substance abusers have appeared both among adults and among young people. According to the USSR Ministry of Internal Affairs, the use of moonshine and other intoxicating substances led to the poisoning of more than forty thousand people, of which eleven thousand died. The number of drug addicts doubled from 1985 to 1987.

During one of the anti-alcohol rallies

The campaign was declared to have saved the lives of a million people

The campaign hit not only the population, but also the Soviet budget, which at that time was already suffering from a deficit. In total, the state treasury received less than 19 billion rubles from the trade sector. And due to losses in wine production, another 6.8 billion were missing. Discontent across the country eventually forced Mikhail Gorbachev to slow down the anti-alcohol campaign. The state monopoly on the trade in alcoholic beverages was soon abolished, and the fight against drunkenness gradually went nowhere. Ivan Laptev, chairman of the All-Union Society for the Struggle for a Sober Lifestyle, would later write: “They didn’t drink less in Russia, the culture of drinking didn’t improve, the green serpent, having rested in cellars and cellars, remained the best friend of the Soviet man.”

Mikhail Gorbachev was dubbed "Lemonade Joe" because of the fight against drunkenness

Mikhail Gorbachev himself will be called by the people "mineral secretary" and "lemonade Joe". Nevertheless, the campaign was highly appreciated by the global community. “It delayed the death of millions of people who were in danger of losing their lives as a result of accidents, alcohol poisoning or suicide,” one UN report said.