It is found that a sufficiently strong electric field can substantially dec
rease the relaxation rate of high-frequency polarization of a gas correspon
ding to the resonance dipole-dipole interaction of its molecules. The corre
sponding decrease in the integrated cross section for intermolecular Weissk
opf collisions is calculated using the two-level approximation for the desc
ription of quantum dynamics of internal (vibrational) degrees of freedom of
molecules, whereas their translational and rotational motions are treated
classically. It is shown that the effect is caused by the Stark change of d
ipole moments of molecules and the ordering of their orientations in a cons
tant electric field. As a result, for a certain magnitude of this field, th
e contributions of constant and high-frequency dipole moments of a molecule
to the change in its density matrix upon a collision are counterbalanced t
o a considerable extent. The conditions required for the experimental obser
vation of the effect are formulated. (C) 2001 MAIK "Nauka/Interperiodica".