28.07.2012
The Associated Press published the results of a poll held by the Russian Department of GfK, a German company specializing in public opinion researches. The report says that 13% of Russian citizens have experienced using drugs. Nonetheless, drugs are thought to be a major problem of the Russian society. According to the rating, it outruns corruption, unemployment, poverty, terrorism, criminality and pollution of the environment. 87% respondents named drugs as a very serious problem.
The data can hardly become a revelation. According to the official data, the total amount of Russian citizens occasionally using drugs is as big as 5.5 million people, while the amount of people who use drugs regularly is over 3 million. One in five Russian citizens used drugs being younger than 24 years old. 13% of all detainees convicted last year went to jail for drug-related crimes. Their total number is about 110 thousand people.
The poll clearly demonstrates the scale the drug problem has reached. It has become urgent not only for residents of big cities, but also for back countrymen. If the Federal Drug Control Service managed to reduce the inflow of heroin for some period, drug addicts would turn to synthetic designer drugs which frequently prove to be much more harmful. If the state authorities don’t find more efficient ways to eradicate this evil of society, it threatens to become fatal.
