MOSCOW, March 26 (RIA Novosti) – About three-quarters of Russians support raising the minimum legal age for buying alcohol to 21 from the current 18, according to a poll released Tuesday by the Russian Public Opinion Research Center (VTsIOM).

Of the 76 percent in favor of upping the age limit, the most likely to voice their support were senior citizens or people “approaching pension age” (80-81 percent of them approved of the idea), residents of mid-sized cities (82 percent) and those who identified themselves as having average or below-average family income (77-78 percent), VTsIOM said on its website. Women were more likely to support the measure than men, with 81 percent in favor versus 70 percent.

About one-fifth of respondents (21 percent) said they were skeptical about the proposed change, VTsIOM said.

The poll, commissioned by the federal Sober Russia project, was conducted March 23-24 among 1,600 people in 42 Russian regions. VTsIOM gave the maximum margin of error as 3.4 percent.