19.07.2012
At a recent meeting of the Security Council of Russia in Nizhniy Novgorod the organization’s secretary Nikolay Patrushev announced disturbing statistics. According to him, 60% of all drugs confiscates in Russia were brought in transit through Saint Petersburg, the cultural capital of Russia. Moreover, not less than 80% of all cocaine brought to Russia came through Leningrad region. In this view, it’s not a wonder that injecting drug users make about 2% of the region’s working-age population.
However, certain politicians try to reveal positive trends too. So, presidential plenipotentiary in Northwestern Federal District Nikolay Vinnichenko said: “Northwestern Federal District, for example, is among the leaders as to the amount of solved drug-related crimes and decrease in the amount of the percentage drug addicts among the population.However, the amount of chronic drug addicts in our region is very big. It’s necessary to take immediate steps”.
At the same time, Head of the Federal Drug Control Service of Russia Victor Ivanov visited the State University of Technology in Belgorod. The administration of the university signed an agreement with the local out-patient department for drug addicts about voluntary drug tests among students. “Youth shouldn’t take drug tests as something extraordinary. Senior high school students get planned medical examinations and undergo medical tests to detect various diseases. Nobody minds. So why drug tests and metabolite tests should cause resentment?” Mr. Ivanov says.
“It’s enough to report the drug tests results to the students’ parents, without publicity. As a rule, one serious talk is enough, the child will not use drug again,” he added.
