ABSTRACT
Alcohol abuse, alcoholism, and related social, health, and economic problems are some of the most important issues affecting the quality of life in the Soviet Union. Directly and indirectly, they explain a large portion of the Soviet Union's unexplained residual death rate. Heavy drinking and alcohol abuse significantly affect the social aspects of life in the Soviet Union. As is true with respect to other Soviet social problems, there are no summary data or overall statistics on the subject, but anecdotal evidence and media and specialized reports strongly suggest that drinking is a major cause of divorce in the Soviet Union, and that women in alcoholic families have more than the average number of abortions. Soviet specialists repeatedly stress the high degree of correlation observed between violence and property crime and drinking. The impact of heavy drinking and alcohol abuse on everyday life in the Soviet Union can be illustrated by the widespread use "sobering-up stations," or vytrezviteli.
