Authors

• Österberg, Esa (National Research and Development Centre for Welfare and Health (STAKES). Alcohol and Drug Research Group)

Keywords

alcohol smuggling, alcohol use, drinking behaviour, drinking offences

Abstract

The survey charted the extent of unrecorded alcohol consumption and production in Finland. First, the respondents were asked how often they drank alcohol and whether they had used pure, home-made or smuggled alcohol in the previous 12 months. Those who had produced alcohol themselves were asked to state the amount (in litres) they had produced in the previous 12 months. Some questions focused on what percentage of the respondent's total alcohol consumption consisted of home-made, smuggled or privately imported alcohol.

The respondents were asked whether they knew someone who had smuggled pure alcohol/spirits or had produced moonshine (home-made illegal alcohol). Questions also covered whether someone had offered to sell the respondents these kinds of alcohol and how many litres they had bought in the previous 12 months. The respondents were asked how many trips or cruises abroad they had made and how often as well as how many litres and what kind of alcohol products they themselves had imported. The respondents' total alcohol consumption was charted, including what percentage consisted of privately imported alcoholic beverages or of alcohol consumed abroad.

Background variables included the respondent's gender, age, basic and vocational education, occupational group, employment status, annual gross income of the household, number of household members, household composition, province of residence, municipality type, occupational group of household head, primary and secondary choice of political party if parliamentary elections had been held at the time of the survey, and party choice in the 1996 municipal elections.