Russia mulls raising legal drinking age after deaths spike

MOSCOW: Russia´s health minister on Wednesday said it was necessary to raise the legal age to buy alcohol to 21 after an increase in drink-related deaths during the coronavirus epidemic. “Unfortunately, the role of alcohol has begun to rise in the death count during this period,” Mikhail Murashko told parliament. Lawmakers should pass legislation that would raise the legal age to buy alcohol from 18 to 21, he said. “This could be done already today.

Over the past years there have been a number of attempts to raise the legal drinking age in Russia. Although he did not provide any figures, Murashko said the number of alcohol-related deaths had increased during the coronavirus outbreak. Compared to women of the same age, men´s mortality was higher from the age of 18 onwards, he added. Despite Russia´s reputation for hard drinking, alcoholism has for years been on the wane, thanks in part to anti-drink campaigns and aggressive moves by the authorities to control sales.