Dramatic changes of the “anti-alcohol” legislation are coming

During the parliamentary hearings in the Legislative Duma of Tomsk Oblast a heated discussion of legislative improvements to reduce alcohol consumption took place.

The hearings lasted four hours and collected a lot of comments and proposals. It was obvious that alcoholism remains a serious problem and countermeasures are urgently needed.

Recently, a number of vital laws were adopted by the federal government. Those initiatives were supported by the regions. For example, Tomsk Oblast adopted the Oblast Law “On additional alcohol sale restrictions in Tomsk Oblast”. The new law takes effect on May 21, 2012. At the same time, the incidence of crimes committed under the influence of alcohol remains a serious concern.

How else should the federal and regional legislation be improved to encourage people to drink less alcohol and look after their health. A brainstorming was held to obtain the input from leaders of various institutions such as the drug abuse clinic, the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Federal Antimonopoly Service, the Oblast and City Administrations, medical organizations, the Oblast Consumers’ Association, non-profit organizations, and public and youth associations.

Elena Redchenkova, chief executive of the Tomsk Oblast Drug Abuse Clinic told about the drug abuse problems in the Oblast and described options to improve the “anti-alcohol” legislation.

Aleksander Afanasiev, associate professor at the History and Social Work Department of the Tomsk State University of Control Systems and Radioelectronics presented a report on the domestic and foreign experience in fighting alcohol abuse.

Piotr Balashov, head of the Psychiatry, Narcology, and Psychotherapy Department of the Siberian State Medical University delivered a presentation on the methods to evaluate the effectiveness of the anti-alcohol legislation.

At the end of the hearings Vladimir Kravchenko, Chairman of the Duma Committee for Legislation, State Structure, and Safety suggested adopting the recommendations developed at the hearings “Improvement of the legislation to reduce alcohol consumption in the population. Federal and regional aspects”. The editing group will refine the recommendations which will then be approved at the session of the Legislative Duma of Tomsk Oblast.

The Legislative Duma of Tomsk Oblast

Dramatic changes of the “anti-alcohol” legislation are coming