Citation

Razvodovsky YE. Psychiatry J. 2015; 2015: 1-2.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2015, Hindawi Publishing)

DOI

10.1155/2015/604219

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

The paper by Jargin [1] addressed highly relevant topic: the phenomenon of nonbeverage or surrogate alcohol consumption. In Russia, the consumption of homemade spirits (samogon) and surrogate alcohols (i.e., products that contain alcohol but are not intended for consumption), also referred to as noncommercial or unrecorded alcohol, is somewhat common [2, 3]. Among the most common surrogates are industrial spirits, antiseptics, lighter fluid, and medications containing alcohol. Unrecorded alcohol also includes alcohol produced by distilleries but sold without the payment of taxes and counterfeit beverages that are passed off as commercial brands. According to WHO statistics [4], unrecorded alcohol accounts for one-third of all consumption in Russia, while some estimates show a figure as high as 50% [5]. One study indicated that the prevalence of past year surrogate alcohol consumption in an average Russian city was 7.3% [2]. A recent study found that the vast majority of Russians cited their lower cost and greater availability as important reasons for drinking noncommercial alcohol beverages [6]. This is why the low-income groups of the population and heaviest drinkers in Russia are the likeliest to consume noncommercial alcohol, and this effect is intensified during periods of economic recession [7].

It also seems very likely that illegally distilled, counterfeit, and surrogate alcohol poses a risk to human health, playing an important role in the high level of alcohol-related deaths in Russia. It was found that home-made spirits contained the toxic alcohols that could cause damage to the liver [2]. The findings from Izhevsk (Russia) study indicated that among working-age males who reported surrogate use, the relative risk of dying from causes directly related to problem drinking (e.g., alcoholic psychosis, alcoholic cardiomyopathy, alcoholic liver cirrhosis, and acute alcohol poisoning) was 25.5 in relation to those who consumed only legal alcoholic beverages [8].

Historically, government policies designed to raise prices and restrict availability of commercial alcohol beverages in Russia have driven black market growth. Surrogates consumption increased markedly following the prohibition of vodka sales in July 1914 as Russia mobilized for war [9]. A similar rapid rise in consumption of illicitly produced alcohol and surrogates has occurred during Gorbachev's antialcohol campaign in the mid-1980s [10].

The development of events on the Russian alcohol scene in recent years shows how complex and multifaceted the problem of undocumented alcohol consumption is.

Language: en