DRUG & ALCOHOL ABUSE

• "The average Russian man drinks a bottle of vodka every other day, not counting beer, wine, whiskey & cognac," according to the Health Ministry. "Overindulging is seen a just part of being Russian."
• The average age to start binge drinking in Russia is currently 14 years old.
• Russia's male life expectancy is the lowest among the world's developed countries, 58 years, due to unnatural causes, especially alcohol & drug related
• 47,000 people died last year from alcohol poisoning. Alcohol was also responsible for some 40% of all serious diseases. Home-distilled vodka and other spirits are blamed for high incidence of alcohol poisoning, and Russia's severe drink problem is said to be the problem behind high rates of heart disease, road and workplace accidents, and drowning
• 3-5 million Russians are drug users, according to the Health Ministry. 1/3 of the country's urban population has tried illegal drugs at least once. Users as young as 4-6 years of age have been known, and there is an increase in children aged 11-13 years trying drugs.
• The number of addicts in Russia has increased by over 9x in the past 10 years, while a similar index in the US has decreased by 2x during the same period