Putin noted the growth in the number of drug addicts in Russia by 60%
The President also said that the level of coordination of government agencies and public anti-drug organizations need to improve.
MOSCOW, April 28. /TASS/. Russian President Vladimir Putin noted the increase in the number of drug addicts by 60%. He also cited statistics showing that in Russia, there are 600 thousand drug addicts, and, according to unofficial information, the number exceeds 2 million.
“The total number of only officially registered drug addicts is according to our statistics, about 600 thousand people, — said the head of state at the security Council meeting. — Unfortunately, over the past five years, this figure does not change, the number of drug addicts has increased by 60%”.
Putin complained that, according to unofficial polls, the drugs consumed about 7.5 million people, including 2 million drug addicts do it regularly
The President drew attention to the fact that expand the trafficking of synthetic drugs and new psychoactive substances.
“Most often, their providers are criminal groups from abroad, countries of Europe, Asia, recently, the flow comes from Ukraine, he said. — Do not attempt to stop the spread in the Russian regions and Afghan drugs, including heroin”.
Putin stressed that the level of drug-related crime remains high, and the propagation of illicit substances increasingly use modern communication tools and electronic payments.
The President said that at a meeting of the security Council on Friday will consider measures to make the state anti-drug strategy more effective. “We need to identify measures aimed at reducing the illicit proliferation and the non-medical use of drugs; reduce the negative consequences for the security of society and state, health of citizens,” he concluded.
According to the President, coordination of government agencies and public anti-drug organizations need to improve. “Taking into account the transfer of functions of Federal drug control service in the Ministry of interior should improve the level of coordination of anti-drug activities of state authorities, local authorities and civil society,” he said.
According to the head of the state priority need to identify and block channels of deliveries of drugs from Central Asia, synthetic drugs of Ukrainian, European and Asian origin, to suppress the activities of drug dealers and associated organized criminal groups, including transnational.
“The most important task is to undermine the economic foundations of drug trafficking, which, as we know, is a financial support for terrorist and extremist structures, — said Putin. — It is necessary to improve the system of prevention, with the use of modern methods to identify drug addicts in the early stages, efficiently treat and rehabilitate the sick”.
As the President noted, we also need to continue a focused anti-drug propaganda in the media, to form a stable immunity to the consumption of drugs. According to the head of state, it is necessary to increase cooperation with anti-drug authorities of other countries, including in the formats of the CSTO, CIS, SCO and BRICS, “to bring to the world our position on the inadmissibility of the liberalization of the international legal regime of drug control”.