Tolstoy states: "All human life, we may say, consists solely of these two activities: (1) bringing one’s activities into harmony with conscience, or (2) hiding from oneself the indications of conscience in order to be able to continue to live as before."
Later he concludes: "The cause of the world-wide consumption of hashish, opium, wine, and tobacco, lies not in the taste, nor in any pleasure, recreation, or mirth they afford, but simply in man’s need to hide from himself the demands of conscience."
hmmm... I'm not sure i agree with Tolstoy on this issue.
Tolstoy states people drink to "hide from their conscience". I never drank to hide from my conscience. I drank because it was easier for me to interact with other people. I wasn't hiding from my 'conscience', i was trying to eliminate my self-consciousness, and my feeling of being judged by others. It was my form of anti-anxiety medication. I still have the anxiety, but i use a different medication for it.
But good on him for addressing the very real problem of intoxication. It's still a very real problem in Russia (and England, and America, and Scotland, and Australia, and ...)