'
' The Associated Press
' Date: Friday Jan. 1, 2010 10:37 AM ET
'
' MOSCOW — The Russian government has set a minimum price for vodka that more
' than doubles the cost of the cheapest vodka on the market in an effort to fight
' rampant alcoholism.
'
' The measure also is aimed at reducing the extraordinary number of deaths caused
' by drinking in Russia.
'
' The minimum price of 89 rubles ($3) for a half litre of vodka went into effect Friday,
' the start of the 12-day New Year's and Orthodox Christmas holiday, when alcohol
' consumption is at its highest.
'
' President Dmitry Medvedev has publicly decried Russia's drinking problem and its
' effect on the nation's well being.
'
' A study published last year in The Lancet medical journal said drinking has caused
' more than half of deaths among Russians aged 15 to 54 since the 1991 Soviet collapse.
'
'
'
' In this photo taken Thursday, Dec. 31, 2009, from left, Russian President Dmitry
' Medvedev, Federal Security Service chief Alexander Bortnikov and Prime Minister
' Vladimir Putin clink glasses during an informal meeting of the Security Council
' members on New Year eve in Moscow.
' (AP / RIA Novosti, Mikhail Klimentyev, Presidential Press Service)
