MOSCOW. Nov 12 (Interfax) - About 120,000 Russian citizens die of drug and alcohol abuse each year, representatives of the Federal Drug Control Service and the Health Ministry told Interfax on Monday.

"Drug addiction and overdose annually kill about 80,000 people in this country. This is information from experts," Federal Drug Control Service spokesman Lt. Gen. Alexander Mikhailov told Interfax.

Mikhailov said that about 6 million Russians are addicted to drugs, while the official statistics stands at about 500,000. Up to 15 million Russians have tried illegal drugs at least once in their lives, Mikhailov said.

Alcohol poisoning causes about 40,000 deaths per year, Director of the Federal Consumer Rights and Human Well-being Service and Chief Public Health Official Gennady Onishchenko said.

According to the service, Russia has about 3 million alcoholics.