Much attention this week has been focused on President Medvedev’s new law on beer. Prior to its previous incarnation as a foodstuff, beer has now officially become alcohol.  As a result it will disappear from kiosks, airports and railways stations where it has traditionally been found alongside soft drinks and snacks. As of now, one will no longer be able to buy the beverage 11pm and 8 am. As for those caught selling the alcohol to minors, they could end up facing a prison sentence.  Many will remember how perilous restricting alcohol consumption is in a nation of inveterate tipplers.  Gorbachev tried to institute a partial prohibition between 1985 and 1987 and monumentally failed.  His anti-alcohol campaign earned him not only the title of ‘mineral-water-drinking secretary’ rather than ‘General Secretary’ but also the virulent disapprobation of the population. It also spurred the production of mephitic moonshine, which remains an issue of deep concern today.  RFE/RL has some of the facts and figures which reiterate just how alcohol-dependent the Russian nation is, and why the new measures will do little to change this: