Drinking Habits Take Toll in Baltics

People drink beer in downtown Tallinn, Estonia in this June 16, 2005 file picture. The Baltic nations of Lithania, Latvia and Estonia still find themselves near the bottom of several European Union health categories linked to excessive drinking, which includes the rates of liver disease, traffic deaths, suicides, alcohol poisoning and psychosis, according to the World Health Organization. (AP Photo/NIPA ) (Nipa - AP)

"Even among the young people, I don't know a single person who doesn't drink to get drunk. Even 16- and 17-year-olds drink so much they can't make it home at night," said one moonshiner. He insisted on being quoted only by his first name, Mareks, to avoid criminal prosecution.

It is considered bad form in the Baltics to refuse the offer of a drink or not to finish a bottle of liquor once it has been opened. The person who finishes a bottle is expected to buy another one.

For many, the June 23-24 midsummer night celebrations often include dusk-til-dawn drinking bouts.

Ben Baumberg, a researcher at the Institute of Alcohol Studies in England, said the Baltic countries could learn from their Nordic neighbors, which have similar drinking traditions.

"In Finland, Sweden, Norway and Iceland, they also tend to drink the same way, but their level of drinking is much lower," Baumberg said.

He said people in those countries are more aware of alcoholism's harms, and their governments have the will to address the problem. "My impression is that you just don't have that right now in the Baltic countries," he said.

A few small steps have been taken. Estonia has a zero-tolerance drunk driving law in which just a single drink will put drivers in the wrong. Latvia enacted a law last year imposing an $850 fine or 15-day jail term for first-time offenders.

But experts say much more is needed. Some activists want Estonia to adopt a model like Sweden, where high taxes make drinking very expensive and all liquor is sold through state-run stores.

"If we limited alcohol sales and advertising, I think it would have a positive effect on alcoholism," said Bekmann, who heads the Estonian Temperance Union. "We can't change the older generation, but we can still try to reach young people."