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In the villages, fermenting pots of low-proof hooch stood in every hut.
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By linking a legitimate movement against a monstrous state with a cultural acceptance for inebriation, the Russian people were very susceptible to addiction once stronger drugs than ethanol showed up. Ten years ago I witnessed a group of young heroin addicts share a steel and glass hypodermic needle of Soviet vintage. I refused a go with it. Before I could explain why, their teenage chief told me, "Don't worry, we all use it." The harsh lessons learned by the Western world's experience with HIV had passed him by. In America, desperate junkies are kept from infection by needle-exchange programs, while in Russia the population most at risk is unaware of the dangers.Raised with tales of fighting the Soviet dragon while drinking the preserved marsupials from the town museum, I drank all through my youth. When I found a door to the shadows, I moved on to stronger things. It wasn't long before I paid a price. But this is America, the land of second acts. Having paid my debt to society and luckily preserved my health, I get to try again. Russia is not as forgiving. Those not killed by Krokodil are often hideously disfigured, often before even reaching their 20s. The inheritance of a substance-abusing zeitgeist has arguably made Russian culture its own enemy, one strong enough to convince a teenage Manhattanite to drink cologne.Follow Daniel Genis on Twitter.In America, desperate junkies are kept from infection by needle-exchange programs, while in Russia the population most at risk is unaware of the dangers.