Backlash over stricter liquor laws
VILNIUS, Lithuania — One of the heaviest-drinking nations in the world is facing a severe hangover.
Lithuania’s new liquor law has increased the legal drinking age from 18 to 20, banned alcohol advertising, and drastically curtailed opening hours for liquor stores. The law, in effect since Jan. 1, has stirred major controversy in the Baltic nation of 2.9 million people.
According to the World Health Organization, Lithuanians’ per capita alcohol consumption jumped more than 22 percent in a decade — from 15.7 quarts of pure alcohol annually in 2006 to 19.2 quarts in 2016. Authorities felt drastic measures were needed.
“We had to do something,” said Health Minister Aurelijus Veryga, the main proponent of the new legislation. Alcoholism “makes Lithuania unattractive to foreign investments and tourism.”
“Especially shocking are surveys showing that a third of our 15- and 16-year-olds consume alcohol regularly,” Veryga noted.
Lithuania has the highest suicide rate in Europe — 36 per 100,000 people — and suicide rates among alcoholics are consistently high, according to a study conducted by health specialists at Vilnius University.
Veryga became minister in late 2016 when his party — Union of Farmers and Greens Union — claimed most seats at the national elections. The party has pushed ahead with several conservative changes in family policy, despite public protests and disagreements with coalition partners.
On a mural covering a wall of a popular Vilnius restaurant, Veryga is depicted as a Taliban fighter holding an AK-47 machine gun under the heading “the party is over,” reflecting concerns that Lithuania is entering a dark era of radical bans and restrictions.
Some columnists suggested Lithuania should start censoring classic literature describing the consumption of spirits, while members of the opposition have already filed amendments seeking to repeal the harshest aspects of the law. Even the country’s president, Dalia Grybauskaite, has called for amendments.
“It reminds me of the Middle Ages, and it causes huge international harm to Lithuania’s image and reputation abroad,” Grybauskaite said.
Publishers have rushed to remove — or cover with red stickers — liquor ads from foreign publications distributed in the country to avoid fines of 30,000 euros ($37,480) per ad.