Gorbachev tried it, and was nearly overthrown. But these days, two thirds of all Russians back a War on Alcoholism.

This according to a nation-wide poll revealed today in the popular online newspaper Gazeta.ru under the headline: “Bored of Drinking”.

Good news for Medvedev, who had earlier gingerly floated an idea of fighting alcoholism as a means of reversing Russia’s decline in birth rates, and praised Gorbachev’s aborted attempt for “demographic growth that was unprecedented in our country”. Only 3% of respondents said that limiting drinking was not the government’s responsibility.

An expected gender divide in the responses was surprisingly slight: while 71% of women supported state measures to curb drinking, over half of all men (56%) did so as well.

63% supported raising the minimum age to 21, and 10% favoured prohibiting alcohol outright.

Interestingly, support also correlated with income: 70% of richer Russians to 62% of poorer ones.

The zeal evident in these responses indicate the strength of the public’s desire for radical solutions.

Yet when asked if they favoured a price hike for alcoholic beverages - considered one of the simplest and more effective ways of curbing drinking - only 19% agreed.