Helping Hands

DRUNKENNESS WAS WIDESPREAD in Tsarist Russia and was not frowned upon. The Soviet Government is anxious to get rid of this; at the same time it re-established, for economic reasons, the former state monopoly controlling the sale of alcoholic liquor. Official pronouncements state that alcoholism has decreased materially during the last thirty years; on the other hand newspaper reports and other voices inside Russia make one wonder whether this is really so. Governmental propaganda against alcohol has been considerably stepped up recently. Measures such as influencing public opinion and ostracizing drinkers are being urged; not an easy undertaking, however, in the face of the tolerant attitude towards drinking and drinkers that used to prevail in that country.