ECECACD: Russia is the leader in the number of drug users among EECA countries 
countries of Eastern and Central Europe, as well as Central Asia (EECA). The international Commission on Drug Policy (ECECACD) announced Russia's leadership, Kommersant reports.
The commission believes that the statistics on the number of drug users in Russia is associated with an increase in HIV-infected people. Only EECA remains the only region in the world where the number of new HIV infections among all age groups is growing.
Russian drug policy is based on stigma and punishment, as well as disregard for human rights, the organization said. >
They added that, according to experts, in Eastern and Central Europe, as well as in Central Asia, drugs are used by three million people. 1.8 million of them – in Russia, 317 thousand – in Ukraine, 94.6 thousand – in Kazakhstan. 25 percent of all Russian prisoners are people convicted of drug offenses, the authors of the report emphasized.
In addition, the commission's report says that in Russia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia and Moldova, drug use considered an administrative violation. In Russia, there are no “other programs of criminal justice and public health that can balance the activities of law enforcement agencies in the fight against drugs,” the commission said.
substances, in 2020 increased by 60 percent, to 7,316 people. According to the ministry, the increase occurred against the backdrop of the coronavirus pandemic – 4569 people died a year earlier.