What you acknowledge (as the king of wishful thinking) is immaterial
Alcohol consumption in Russia - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
That's just silly.
Alcoholism is linked to genetics, as we all know. Plus, Russia's drinking problem is evident far back when they had royalty and dictators. 1/3 of all men in Russia were in debt to local bars by the time of the Middle Ages. Long before communism there. Also, water in parts of Russia is foul, meaning you don't have a choice of water, tea, coffee. Then there have been there for ages bootleggers, to make money, like some did here in the U.S.
The Irish have a particular problem with alcoholism. The Irish like to say that's an incorrect stereotype, but the statistics are there. Something I read stated that it may be the pub culture in Ireland that caused it. If your community gathers in pubs, you're all going to drink. But as far as a genetic component goes, I think that's part of Ireland's problem, since they had that same problem after they came here.
It's a truism that if you have something around you a lot, sooner or later you're going to use it. Whether it's alcohol or guns. Genetics + culture of booze = a lot of alcoholics.
Note: Most of the countries in the world that lead in alcohol consumption per capita are the countries up in the area of Russia and down into Europe, who share a common ancestral background. Belarus, Moldova, Russia, Romania, Ukraine, Hungary, Czech, Slovakia, etc.
What's REALLY interesting are the countries at the bottom of the list, the ones with the lowest alcohol consumption: Pakistan, Libya, Kuwait, Bangladesh, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, etc.