The head of the Center for Addictive Diseases named when Lithuanians will stop drinking

Despite all the bans introduced, according to statistics, Lithuanians consume a record amount of alcohol in the world. Why?

In part, this is a legacy of the Soviet period, because in those days, it’s no secret, there was little entertainment and alcohol was always available. Both at work, and after work, and during vacations, it was consumed very abundantly.

The village has since been drowned in alcohol and there is also a strong link between alcohol and a high percentage of suicides among working-age men. It’s apparently hard to dig out of the past.

But almost three and a half decades have passed.

Alcohol policy has only become a concern in recent years. We are very much in favor of the introduction of restrictions on both the places of sale and the time of sale – it is having an effect. In recent years, the situation has softened, there is less consumption of alcoholic beverages, fewer alcoholic psychoses, fewer deaths – the consequences are gradually decreasing.

And stress, tension, especially now, when there is a feeling of insecurity in society – how is it related to alcohol consumption?

Stress can increase alcohol consumption. Especially during the covid period, when there were limited opportunities to communicate and some people began to drink more alcohol, and perhaps became addicted. We can certainly agree that some people developed addictions precisely because of the pandemic, especially when it lasted for a long time – not a week or a month, but practically a year and a half or longer.

But on the other hand, alcohol consumption has decreased for some people, because the opportunities to go to bars, restaurants, and to visit have decreased.

If we look at the statistics of alcohol and drug use among young people, we are also at the front of that shameful queue. What are the reasons for this?

Maybe it’s not quite like that. Global studies conducted every 4 years show that the use of narcotic substances among fifteen and sixteen-year-olds in Lithuania is far behind that of the Czech Republic, the United Kingdom or the Netherlands.

But gradually, being among Western European countries, we are catching up a little bit with other countries.

What about alcohol?

Maybe at the same level, maybe a little bit above, but it’s related to one-time uses, one-time poisonings. Since there are still cases of heavy drinking, possibly even violence, in parents’ families, where children grow up, alcohol consumption is also related to the environment in which children grow up.

Unbelievable, it seems that the Soviet era is already far forgotten, isn’t it? One true generation has grown up, probably the second one is already starting to mature, and there are still such consequences of that Soviet alcohol cult. Why is it still used like that?

(Required – aut. post.) half a century – 50 years. There were very deep changes, especially in the villages. Before the Soviet era, very little alcohol was consumed in the villages, but after that everything changed. Taking away the land, taking away the farm, taking away the independence, turning normal farmers into collective farmers – that definitely played a role.