Scale of Drug Addiction in Russia "apocalyptic" - Drug Control Service Chief
MOSCOW. Dec 21 (Interfax) - Drug addiction has taken on an "apocalyptic scale" in Russia, where 100,000 young people die from drug use annually, the director of the Russian Federal Drug Control Service, Viktor Ivanov, said.
"Of the 130,000 young people in the 15-30 age group who die in Russia every year, the majority, around 100,000 people, die due to causes linked to drug use," Ivanov said at a session of the State Anti-Drug Committee in Moscow on Tuesday.
Russian Patriarch Kirill, who also attended the session, said Russia's drug-induced mortality rates are "highly alarming."
"The number of people who die due to drug use is incomparably higher than the number of people killed by terrorists. Today terrorism is in the spotlight of the entire international community and national governments, while drug-induced death rates are many times higher," Patriarch Kirill said.
According to the Federal Drug Control Service, there are up to five million drug addicts in Russia. Most of them use Afghan heroin, which is smuggled into Russia through Central Asian countries.
Keyword Tags:
