None of this is new, or unique to Russia.
Russia has extreme levels of alcoholism and drug abuse. A lot of it is quite unique to Russia, country that brought you Krokodil and things messed up beyond your wildest imagination.
People in the west really have no slightest clue.
- the West has all of these much worse
- Russia is upstanding and moral
- if these exist in Russia, it’s because of western influence
Which conveniently removes the responsibility from Russian authorities and emboldens western jackasses who see Russia as some kind of beacon for… something.
Maybe Russia can blame the West for the dark net.
Russia _had_ extreme levels of alcoholism in the 1990s and in the beginning of 2000s. Since then, their anti-alcohol campaign was very effective. Instead of outright banning alcohol (which was tried in the 1980s and led to a bootlegging boom), they taxed the hell out of strong liquors, prohibited advertising them, prohibited nighttime sale of alcoholic drinks including beer, prohibited everything except beer on sports events, and executed other measures to make alcoholic beverages _uncomfortable_ to obtain.
As a result, alcohol consumption per capita decreased nearly twofold. Now average Russian drinks less than average American [1].
1. https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/field/alcohol-consump...
Claiming a twofold decrease since the beginning of the 2000's is not supported by the WHO's numbers. Peak consumption in Russia looks to be in 2006, there's been a 28% decrease in consumption since 2006.
Women in Russia do consume less than women in the USA in 2020, 4.2L vs 4.4L but Russian men still out drink their American counterparts at 18.1L vs 15.5L.
The WHO numbers of litres of alcohol consumed per-captia, three year average:
Russia
2020 M&F 10.5 [ 7.2 - 13.9] M 18.1 [12.5 - 24.1] F 4.2 [2.9 - 5.6]
2006 M&F 14.6 [10.9 - 18.5] M 25.0 [18.5 - 31.5] F 6.0 [4.4 - 7.6]
2000 M&F 13.9 [10.1 - 17.7] M 23.7 [17.2 - 30.2] F 5.6 [4.0 - 7.2]
2020 M&F 9.9 [ 7.3 - 12.8] M 15.5 [11.4 - 19.9] F 4.4 [3.2 - 5.8]
2006 M&F 9.4 [ 6.6 - 12.3] M 14.8 [10.4 - 19.3] F 4.2 [3.0 - 5.6]
2000 M&F 9.1 [ 6.4 - 11.7] M 14.3 [10.2 - 18.6] F 4.0 [2.8 - 5.3]
does seem very relevant to expose Russia's outsized influence.
Actual news are optional, although in this case both a rise of high tech methods in retail drug trading over time and widespread usage in Russia seem likely.