Saving drunkards from cold death. Sobering stations will open throughout Russia
The sobering-up system that existed in the Soviet Union is returning to Russia.
The State Duma of the Russian Federation adopted the corresponding law today, reports a PolitNavigator correspondent.
“This is a complex matter, multi-component. Every year in the Russian Federation, up to 10 thousand people in a state of alcohol poisoning die from frostbite. That is, per year we lose one regional center of people who find themselves in a helpless state when it’s minus 30-40 on the street,” said LDPR deputy Alexey Didenko.
The discussion was sparked by the issue of introducing commercial sobering stations. They appeared in Russia during the World Cup to pick up drunken foreigners. Representatives of left-wing factions believe that this form of assistance is not suitable for Russians.
“The mountain gave birth to a mouse. In essence, this simply legitimizes the intention to give private investors the opportunity to create such institutions with the money of heavy drinkers. Budgetary institutions - you can’t think of anything else here. I don't believe these horrifying statistics. This person or drug addict will die anyway. The main question is his rehabilitation, but there is no money for this,” said A Just Russia representative Oleg Nilov.
In his opinion, the flaw in the law is that it does not specify the definition of the degree of intoxication.
“We give carte blanche to the authorities - take it, rip it off. Take him home, why put him through the sobering-up station,” the deputy added.
“I doubt that a private owner will extract homeless people from the snow without hoping for subsequent compensation. They will still go to budget organizations,” said communist deputy Alesei Kurinny.
Supporters of the law emphasize that each region will have the right to choose any form of operation of sobering stations. At the same time, the cost of services will be the same throughout Russia.
“Even if the region is going to create a public-private partnership, this does not mean that some businessmen will take money from people. This will be from budget funds allocated for all constituent entities of the Russian Federation,” said United Russia deputy Alexander Khinshtein.
According to him, in 20 regions where sobering stations have already been created, the crime rate and the number of deaths are decreasing.
Saving Drunkards from a Cold Death : Sobering-Up Centers to Open All Over Russia