Sobering stations of the USSR and modern Russia
Sobering stations in our country appeared in Tsarist Russia in the first years of the 20th century. The first medical sobering stations with outpatient clinics appeared between 1902 and 1903, and in 1904 a larger “shelter for the drunks” was opened in Tula. It was supported by money from the city treasury. By 1914, there were sobering plants all over the empire. These institutions performed medical functions.
Everything changed in 1931, when sobering stations were removed from the jurisdiction of the People’s Commissariat of Health and placed in the structure of the internal affairs bodies.
According to Irina Matveeva, a clinical psychologist and founder of the Sphere Center for Practical Psychology, during the years of the Soviet sobering stations, internal affairs officers rounded up drunks on the streets and delivered them to the institution to bring. get them fit and let them sleep. After the person regained consciousness, they were examined by a doctor and then released with a receipt for medical care at the recovery station.
Administrative measures were applied to the patient’s workplace by sending reports about the incident.
Such sorting stations of the “Soviet type” are familiar to all of us, and they existed in Russia until 2011, until they were dismantled throughout the country. After the official closure of medical sobriety centers, people with alcohol or drug intoxication began to be taken to ordinary city hospitals. Now the sorted stations have been revived,” says expert Matveeva.
And he explains that much has changed since this “revival”. For example, sobering stations are no longer “state owned”, they are opened on the basis of a public-private partnership.
Matveeva believes that when it comes to the atmosphere of organizations, changes occur comfortably. Now drunk people are promised bedding, linens, pajamas and accessories for bathrobes and soap. Also, sobering stations should have showers, an examination room, restrooms, and even lockers.
“Previously, this was just a dream. In Soviet times, a drunk person could be sent to sleep on a bed without a mattress, or even on the floor. There were no bathrobes or sheets. But all the beds were necessarily low, so that when the patient fell, he did not hurt himself – they were interested, ”says the clinical psychologist.
So, according to him, in the existing sober stations, a person can simply sleep under medical supervision for a conditional 1.5-2 thousand, as in most foreign countries. At the same time, Matveeva says, in sobering stations, drunks are “raised hard”, for example, they send detainees to a cold shower so that they can come to their senses.
“Drunken Buses” and the Bar Patrol
In the UK, where there is no unified strategy to combat drunkenness, authorities and charities are solving the problem of drunken citizens on the streets on their own.
So-called “drunken buses” (British “drinking buses”) now operate in the country, which run through the streets of cities during holidays, festivities, football matches and other large-scale events.
Often the help is extraordinary: for example, the workers of the “drunken buses” carry flip-flops with them to give to drunk women with high heels.
In England there are so-called “street angels” – they patrol the streets near bars and taverns, help drunk people get home and provide first aid, including psychological. They need to separate fights and resolve other conflicts. And all this just for good.
Prison cells and medical sobriety centers in the United States
In the United States, the fate of intoxicated persons is determined differently from state to state.
For example, in one state, a drunken citizen may be arrested “for being publicly drunk,” and a temporary detention cell will act as a “separation station.” In the other, if a person has not committed illegal acts, they are untouched. General regulations are only available for people who are severely overdone, significantly affecting their well-being, and potentially life-threatening – they are sent to the first aid department of the nearest hospital in any corner of the country.
And if earlier in the police stations there were special prison cells for drunks, called “drunken tanks”, today everything is different – there are no specific institutions for alcoholics. They began to organize “medical sobriety centers” in some cities.
They have hot drinks, soups, clean sheets, recliners to prevent dizziness, and medical care that includes alcohol referrals.
German “sober rooms”
In Germany, sobering stations are called “separation rooms” and work in police stations and hospitals. Not everyone can go there – if a person on the street is in a state of mild poisoning, he can be taken home, in a serious case – sent to the hospital. Intoxicated citizens enter the sobriety station only in a “moderate” state.
And you have to pay to “sleep” not on a bench, but in a special center in Germany. For a night in a cell with heating, toilet, clean bedding and blankets in major cities of the country you will have to pay about 35 € (a little over 2,000 rubles). In smaller cities, such a night alcoholic will cost € 25 (a little more than 1,500 rubles). At the same time, to get to the sobering station, you will have to pay the police another 45 €, or almost 3,000 rubles. If you paint the inside of the car – another 55 € or 3,500 rubles.
For example, if you vomit, and for the help of a doctor, you will also have to pay for cleaning in “sober rooms”. For cleaning, you will have to pay about 30 €, or about 2,000 rubles – 120 € or about 8,000 rubles, for the help of a medical professional. Intensive cleaning of the cell after patients with infectious diseases will cost a little more than 160 € or 10,000 rubles. It will also be possible to buy food at the sobering station – sandwiches are often offered there.
Also in such establishments there is free tea and coffee.
“The Most Expensive Hotels” in Poland
The first sobering station in Poland appeared in May 1956. Citizens’ stay in a state of alcoholic intoxication was paid from the very beginning until January 16, 2013, the authorities tried to revise the law at its discretion, in some cases without charging a fee from citizens who went overboard. from sobering stations. This did not last long: on December 31 of the same year, the “novelty” was canceled, and alcoholics again had to pay in full for their stay at the sobering station.
At the same time, prices in “sober cottages” in Poland have always been very high, so locals began to call them “the most expensive hotels”. For example, in 2019, the maximum cost of a 24-hour stay at a sobering station was 309 PLN, or almost 4,500 rubles.
For this money, the guests of the “separation hut” not only got enough sleep and warmed up, but also received first aid from doctors – all the workers of the sobriety center were doctors – and at the same time listened to the lectures. the dangers of alcohol abuse and the need to recognize the existence of addiction to get rid of it.
Hygiene and sanitary services are also included in the “legal” list for drunks.
At the same time, measures of “direct coercion” are allowed on themselves of employees of sobering stations in Polish sobering stations. For example, a drunk citizen may be tied to a bed or put on a straitjacket.
At the same time, only people in a state of serious intoxication can enter the sobering station – brawlers and those who pose a danger to others, the police simply escort everyone home. All for the same fee.
It’s not a crime to be drunk in Poland. Just like that, no one can arrest drunk citizens. Unless the life of a drunk person is in danger.
Czech “anti-alcohol isolators”
The first Czech sobering station opened in Prague on May 15, 1951. Established by psychiatrist Yaroslav Skala, Alcohol Isolator was successful in the treatment of patients in the first three months of the operation and received more than 180 thousand in the next 30 years.
There are 16 sobering stations in the country today, where staying sober under the supervision of a doctor will cost different prices depending on the location. For example, in the anti-alcohol isolation ward of the Moravian-Silesian Region Rescue Service, a drunkard will pay 600 kroons or 1,500 rubles per night, and in the isolation ward of the Municipal Polyclinic Pilsen – 4,300 kroons or a little more than 11,000 rubles.
Anti-alcohol isolators in the Czech Republic are purely medical institutions. And staying there is provided to those who not only endanger themselves and others or venture into space, but are also not in a life-threatening situation (otherwise they will be sent to hospitals). In addition, drivers suspected of drug and alcohol poisoning are often brought to sorting stations to collect blood and urine to conduct a toxicological study.
Other countries
In Canada and Sweden there is a service called “Red Nose” that takes drunk people home for money. This only works for citizens in mild to moderate poisoning stages. In severe cases, drunks are taken to medical facilities.
In Austria, sobering stations are called “blue rooms” – these are not establishments, but special separate wards in hospitals. Alcoholics are brought in by the cops or not indifferent citizens. If the patients turn out to be belligerent, they are sent to law enforcement, who imprison them in a cell.
Source: Gazeta
