Quenching Russia's Drinking Problem

The death toll was seven: a teacher, her husband, and five orphans with disabilities. They were returning home from a crafts fair last September when a drunk driver, traveling 125 miles per hour through the streets of Moscow, plowed into them as they waited at a bus stop.

Following his arrest, 29-year-old Alexander Maximov, who had been drinking for two days straight and had landed a DUI arrest two years prior, told investigators, "I always do what I want."

Under current law, a drunk driver will spend less than 10 years behind bars if convicted of manslaughter. But the public outcry after the accident caused lawmakers to call for life imprisonment as a maximum punishment when fatal car crashes are fueled by intoxication.

The national tragedy also stirred soul-searching among pastors, priests, and other Christian leaders. Could the church help solve the country's addiction to alcohol?

Europe has the world's highest rate of alcohol consumption. But Russia's consumption rate of 15.8 liters (or about 4 gallons) of pure ethyl alcohol per capita annually is even higher. It is exceeded in Europe only by Moldova (18.2), the Czech Republic (16.5), and Hungary (16.3). Working-age men are Russia's heaviest drinkers, consuming the equivalent of 155 half-liter bottles (or about 20 gallons) of vodka yearly on average.

Russia's drinking problem affects every facet of national life. There's the sheer fact of 30,000 deaths each year from alcohol poisoning. Russian moonshine, called samogon, as well as "surrogate alcohols" like antifreeze, perfume, and cleaning solutions, play a large role in alcohol-related deaths.



Experts estimate that one out of every three Russian men regularly binge drink, which is linked to homicide, suicide, drowning, fatal industrial accidents, and fires. Government research shows 75 percent of murders committed in Russia and 42 percent of suicides occur under the influence of alcohol. Research from one urban area shows that 83 percent of those who died in fires, 63 percent who drowned, and 62 percent who fell to their deaths were intoxicated.

In addition to deaths, the social cost of Russian alcohol abuse includes high rates of theft, assault, rape, domestic violence, divorce, child neglect, and orphaned children. Misuse of alcohol by pregnant women causes high rates of fetal alcohol syndrome.

The economy suffers a hangover too: Heavy drinking on the job reduces worker productivity by 15 to 30 percent. Harvard scholar Boris Segal estimates economic losses from alcoholism at one-third of Russia's gnp of $3.2 trillion in 2012.
Programs Expand

Orthodox and Protestant churches began opening alcohol and drug rehabilitation centers after the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991. In 1994, a Pentecostal church in Kiev opened the first Protestant residential rehab center. A year later, the charismatic New Life Center opened its residential rehab program near St. Petersburg. It may be the largest church-based program in Russia, with a client population of up to 400.

Based on interviews nationwide, most church-sponsored rehab centers are modest in size, working with 20 to 25 alcoholics. Now numbering upwards of 900 (an estimated 100 Orthodox and 800 Protestant), the programs bear striking resemblances. Most operate on miniscule budgets in primitive facilities and are run by recovering alcoholics.

And all of them insist that spiritual—rather than medical—intervention is the key to recovery. So far, their approach seems to be paying off: Taken together, they report higher recovery success rates than Russia's state or commercial programs.