Russian Finance Minister: People Should Smoke and Drink More

Can anyone imagine Tim Geithner saying this?

Speaking as the Russian government announces plan to raise duty on alcohol and cigarettes, Alexei Kudrin said that by smoking a pack, “you are giving more to help solve social problems such as boosting demographics, developing other social services and upholding birth rates”.
“People should understand: Those who drink, those who smoke are doing more to help the state,” he told the Interfax news agency.
Alcohol and cigarette consumption are already extremely high in Russia, where 65 per cent of men smoke and the average Russian consumes 18 litres of alcoholic beverages per year, mainly vodka, according to official statistics.

If I were cynical, I would say that in America, such a policy would greatly aid our entitlements financing.
Also, I’m not so sure that telling people that something will help the state will urge them to do it. I’ll give the Russian government credit for finally trying to kill its citizens by second-hand means. That’s actually an improvement.

Posted by on September 7th, 2010 at 9:40 am


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