Narcologist Mikhailov: restricting the sale of alcohol on New Year's Eve is ridiculous and harmful that carries more harm than good. This opinion was shared by the head of the psychopathology department of the Moscow Scientific and Practical Center for Narcology Mikhail Mikhailov in a conversation with Lenta.ru.
“It's all ridiculous. In all respects. Both from the economic and from the point of view of customs. Drinking alcohol is not necessarily associated with binge drinking. It's just a deterioration in the quality of life of people, people want to do badly. Well, we are familiar people – we will endure for 10 days. But in general, I think that no one will accept it, “he said.
According to the narcologist, the introduction of a ban on the New Year holidays will cause only a relatively small increase in sales of surrogate alcohol, since its producers need more time to in order to adapt to the new realities of the market.
“I do not think that this will have any serious consequences. There is always surrogate alcohol. I do not think that the amount of surrogate alcohol will grow strongly due to the 10-day ban, “he said.
In general, Mikhailov expects that such a measure will simply force the population to buy alcohol for future use and may provoke small shops to violations of this regime and trade “under the counter.”
Mikhailov called the natural human need to use psychoactive substances. The goal of the state and society here is to create safe and comfortable drinking traditions for those around them, he believes.
Earlier, a member of the State Duma Committee on Security and Anti-Corruption Sultan Khamzaev made a proposal to limit the sale of alcohol on New Year's holidays. In his opinion, this could save the life and health of fellow citizens. As an alternative, Khamzaev suggested making all cultural events free of charge.