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Alcoholic beverages are known for a very long time. Humanity is familiar with wine and beer at least five to seven thousand years and exactly the same – with the consequences of its use.
For millennia there were attempts to find an acceptable measure of drink and justify their drinking, as well as to ban alcohol.
Here are just some of the episodes of this story.
Ancient Greece
Harm from the abuse of wine was known in Ancient Greece.
In the homeland of Dionysus, the Greek God vinopedia drinking only diluted wine. Each feast was attended by symposiarch, a special person whose duty was to establish the degree of dilution the liquor.
Drinking undiluted wine was considered a bad thing.
The Spartans, known for their harshness, arranged for boys the exponential representation. They drank undiluted wine of the conquered helots and put them on the streets for young people to see how disgusting they look drunk.
Kiev Russ and Christianity
If you believe the “Tale of bygone years”, namely the ability to drink alcohol has become the defining reason in choosing a state religion.
At least Prince Vladimir was refusing to accept Islam in favor of Christianity because of alcohol.
However in the Bible the excessive use of wine is also not encouraged.
The biblical Noah, according to the sacred text, have invented wine and drank it first.
Al-Kohl
To VII-VIII centuries mankind has never known spirits. Alcohol was produced by simple fermentation of the raw materials: grapes and malt wort.
It is impossible to gain more spirits in this way: when the fermentation reaches a certain alcohol level, the process stops.
Pure alcohol was first given to the Arabs, as indicated by the very Arabic word “alcohol” (“al-Kohl” means alcohol). In those days the Arabs were the leaders in chemistry and alcohol was opened by the method of distillation.
By the way, the inventors themselves and their people do not drink alcohol: the Qur’an openly prohibits drinking wine.
The first prototype of vodka, apparently, got Arab Ar-Rizi in the XI century. But he used this mix exclusively for medical purposes.
Peter the Great and alcohol
On the one hand, king Peter himself was a great lover of drink. This is clearly evidenced by his creation – most-joking, all-drunk and Extravagant Cathedral – a parody of the Church hierarchy.
Events of this Cathedral are always held with a fair amount of alcohol, although the aim was not to drink, but a symbolic break with the past.
On the other hand, Peter clearly realized the harm of alcohol abuse.
In 1714 he even established the infamous order “for drunkenness”. This order “was awarded” distinguished themselves in alcohol. Excluding the chain the medal that was supposed to wear on the neck, weighed a little less than seven pounds.
The myth of life-giving vodka
From drinkers you can often hear that vodka is the alcohol of 40 degrees and is not harmful to health. According to myth, formula beneficially acting on the body, supposedly invented by the author of the Periodic system of elements, Dmitry Mendeleev.
Alas, the dreamers will be disappointed. In his doctoral thesis of Dmitry Ivanovich Mendeleev “the combination of alcohol with water”, is devoted to the properties of aqueous-alcoholic solutions, without saying a word about 40-degree vodka.
The notorious 40 degrees was invented by the Russian officials.
Early in the production process, the vodka was produced by of 38 per cent (the so-called “polugar”), but in the “Charter on drinking cathedrals” saw the strength of the drink, rounded up to 40 percent.
No magic and the healing ratio of alcohol and water simply do not exist.
Prohibition
Some States, has tried to solve the problem of alcoholism cardinally: to prohibit the sale, manufacture and consumption of alcohol.
The most famous in the history of three cases: prohibition in Russia entered twice (in 1914 and 1985), and prohibition in the United States.
On the one hand, the introduction of prohibition led to the increase of life expectancy and its quality.
So, in Russia, in 1910 it reduced the number of alcoholics, suicides and psychiatric patients, and also increased the number of cash deposits in savings Bank.
At the same time, these years saw a boom brewing and poisoning by surrogate. Prohibition did not include any help to overcome addiction, that made suffering from alcoholism to look for replacement.
The advent of prohibition, the 18th amendment to the U.S. Constitution in 1920 led to the emergence of the famous American mafia, to put under control the smuggling and illegal trade in alcohol.
They said that the 18th amendment was lifted to the throne of gangster al Capone. As a result, in 1933 by the 21st amendment prohibition was cancelled.
Modern methods
In modern countries the fight against alcoholism is complex.
The first item – reducing the availability of alcohol, primarily for children.
For the implementation of these measures increases the cost of alcohol, prohibited its sale in the evening and at night. In addition, increasing the age limit for the purchase of alcohol (in Russia is 18 years and in USA 21).
The second is to promote a healthy lifestyle and raising awareness about the dangers of alcohol.
Third – the provision of assistance to dependent people.
In our country now carried out different campaigns, which puts before itself precisely these purposes. And the first results are already there. Alcohol consumption decreases.
More about alcohol history watch in the video below:
