Russia's Medvedev praises Gorbachev's anti-alcohol campaign

By Oleg Shchedrov

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russian President Dmitry Medvedev on Friday praised the unpopular 1980s anti-alcohol campaign of the last Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev and suggested his own crusade could also introduce new restrictions.

The positive comments towards Gorbachev are unusual in post-Soviet Russia, where he is usually identified with the sudden collapse in the former superpower's status and the ensuing economic chaos of the early nineties.

In 1985, Gorbachev declared a war on the country's traditional evil, ordering dramatic cuts in the production of wines and spirits and introducing strict controls on the public consumption of alcohol.

The campaign triggered a massive surge in illegal production of low-quality home brewed booze and the curbs soon dealt a fatal blow to the popularity of Gorbachev, the author of the liberal Soviet reform known as Perestroika.

Medvedev, who is waging his own campaign against alcoholism, which kills tens of thousands Russians every year and is seen by experts as a key factor for the country's low life expectancy, said Gorbachev's drive had some positive elements.

"(The campaign) was accompanied by idiotic bans and mistakes, which had fuelled a legitimate indignation among the population," he told a meeting of his advisory State Council, comprising regional bosses and top officials.

"At the same time, and this is a fact rather than speculation, that period saw demographic growth that was unprecedented in our country," he added.

A United Nations report in April said poor diet, smoking and heavy drinking had led to a high rate of heart disease and, alongside emigration and violent deaths, could cause Russia's population to fall by 11 million to 131 million by 2025.