Penza, 23 November 2015. PenzaNews. The Penza region was placed 26th in the first national sobriety rating based on the research of the federal project “Sober Russia” and the information communications center “Rating.”

© PenzaNewsBuy the photo

According to the notes, regions were ranked using the most important markers of alcoholism penetration in Russian subjects and related level of strain in the society, such as: number of people diagnosed with alcoholism and alcohol-related psychoses, number of deaths by alcohol poisoning, statistics on crimes committed while under the influence, vodka and beer sales volumes, and severity of alcohol restriction laws in each region.

The rating also took into account opinions submitted by the expert board, which included representatives of NGOs monitoring alcoholism trends in Russia.

The rating included a separate list for each criteria that ranks the regions from best to worst, based on statistics and open sources.

As a result, all regions were ranked in “Number of People Diagnosed with Alcoholism and Alcohol Psychoses,” “Deaths from Alcohol Poisoning,” “Crimes Committed Under Influence,” “Vodka Sales Volume” and “Beer Sales Volume,” based on number of registered cases per 100,000 people.

The overall Russian rating was calculated as a sum of the five factors, the best regions having the fewest points.

The 20 “most sober” regions were included in the top group with under 130 points. They showed up the cleanest in the aforementioned factors; according to experts, they also have the most effective alcohol laws.

The top 10 includes Chechnya, Ingushetia, Dagestan, Moscow, St. Petersburg, the Rostov region, Sevastopol, Kabardino-Balkaria, the Volgograd region and the Krasnodar Krai. They are followed by North Ossetia, the Stavropol region, the Belgorod region, Kalmykia, Crimea, Tatarstan, as well as the Moscow region, the Tomsk region, Bashkortostan and the Sverdlovsk region.

Those ranked between 130 and 250 points were placed in the second group, where, according to the experts, the alcohol laws are not particularly effective and negative effects of alcohol consumption are apparent and threatening to public health and safety.

The Penza region was placed in this group with 147.5 points.

The third group, made of the most underachieving Russian regions that received from 250 to 315.5 points, are marked by notable alcohol lethality, frequent alcohol-related illnesses and crimes, and high alcohol sales. The three worst-faring parts of Russia are the Magadan region (305.5 points), the Nenetsk autonomous region (307.5) and the Jewish autonomous region (315.5).