Soviet citizens barely had time last week to react to rare television footage of General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev mingling with people on the streets of Leningrad, trading one-liners and urging greater work discipline, when they were asked to digest another, more jarring piece of news: a sweeping crackdown on a national pastime -- drinking. The decree raises the drinking age from 18 to 21, delays the daily opening of liquor stores by three hours, calls for a gradual cut in vodka production and an eventual ban on port, which the Soviets consume in huge quantities. The measure also prescribes harsh penalties...
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