TIL: Russia didn’t consider beer to be alcohol until 2011. It was previously classified as a soft drink
In 2011, the then President of Russia, Dmitry Medvedev, signed a bill to classify beer as alcoholic. Before then, anything that contained less than 10% alcohol was considered ‘foodstuff’.
Due to lenient regulations, beer consumption had tripled in Russia by 2011 owing to the fact that it was readily available, prices were low and it was being marketed as a healthier alternative to spirits.
That changed however after the passing of the bill which allowed the law to control the sale of beer especially at nights and ban it altogether in or close to many public places.
Before the bill, it is said people used to consider beer as a soft drink and used to down one during lunch breaks or on their way to work.
This decision was taken in response to the 500,000 deaths every year due to alcohol related reasons, prompting the then president to declare the country’s drinking problem as a ‘national disaster’
beer has been considered a 'soft drink' for most of history.
some say that most of history was commited by drunks..
couldn't drink the water (little wiggly things in it)
not much milk.
no refrigeration...nothing lasted very long.
In Eurp...in the old days (and asia) what COULD you drink that wouldn't kill you?
hand me a beer please...while I think about it.
Unfortunately this is a little incorrect fact, my friend :) I'm from Russia, and can say that beer has always belonged to alcoholic beverages. Before this law, beer is not sold to minors.
The point is that under the old laws it was forbidden to drink in public places alcoholic beverages of a strength of more than 10% (But beer wasn't foodstuff). Just the police could not cite you for it :)
This law primarily concerned the rules for the sale of beer and obtaining a license for it, to close the little street shops, and to give this sector to corporations, because they were losing money.
oh, thanks for correcting. I wrote this from what I read about it in some articles. So, thanks for pointing that out :)
this is bbc exaggeration, not your fault :)
haha totally!!
Under this act also was banned the sale of any alcoholic beverages after 23:00, but sellers found a way out. You bought a lighter (for the cost of a bottle of beer), and received a beer as a gift :D
wow, that's interesting! beer as a gift? man people do come up with the most innovative solutions! :D
This post has been ranked within the top 80 most undervalued posts in the second half of Dec 15. We estimate that this post is undervalued by $5.58 as compared to a scenario in which every voter had an equal say.
See the full rankings and details in The Daily Tribune: Dec 15 - Part II. You can also read about some of our methodology, data analysis and technical details in our initial post.
If you are the author and would prefer not to receive these comments, simply reply "Stop" to this comment.
I think some people are using the #beer tag.
You may want to try that.
haha, tags are harder for me to choose than the words in the post! I suck at them hehehe
Just think a bit more about title and the conclusion you want to give. :-)
that's a good idea! :D