{"id":10607,"date":"2015-02-25T17:39:24","date_gmt":"2015-02-25T17:39:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/drugprevent.org.uk\/ppp\/?p=10607"},"modified":"2016-09-20T20:33:42","modified_gmt":"2016-09-20T20:33:42","slug":"russias-anti-drugs-body-set-for-chop-amid-narcotics-epidemic","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/drugprevent.org.uk\/ppp\/2015\/02\/russias-anti-drugs-body-set-for-chop-amid-narcotics-epidemic\/","title":{"rendered":"Russia’s Anti-Drugs Body Set for Chop Amid Narcotics Epidemic"},"content":{"rendered":"

The\u00a0Russian government is likely to\u00a0disband the\u00a0Federal Drug Control Service, according to\u00a0an official document obtained by\u00a0The Moscow Times.<\/span><\/p>\n

The\u00a0document, signed on\u00a0Feb. 10 by\u00a0Larisa Brychyova, head of\u00a0the legal directorate of\u00a0the presidential administration, cites an\u00a0order by\u00a0President Vladimir Putin to\u00a0dissolve the\u00a0agency from\u00a0March 1.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

The\u00a0agency’s functions will be redistributed among the\u00a0Interior and\u00a0Health ministries, according to\u00a0the document.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Business daily Vedomosti reported Monday that the\u00a0agency is being liquidated due to\u00a0budget considerations.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Putin’s proposal will be considered by\u00a0the Cabinet before becoming official, a\u00a0process that is generally no more than a\u00a0technicality for\u00a0Kremlin initiatives.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

The\u00a0Federal Drug Control Service was established in\u00a02003 on\u00a0the foundations of\u00a0the Federal Tax Police Service and\u00a0employs about 35,000 people, having been ordered by\u00a0Putin in\u00a02012 to\u00a0cut its staff by\u00a05,000 people by\u00a02016, state news agency Interfax reported. The\u00a0service was allocated more than 29.5 billion rubles ($473 million) from\u00a0the federal budget last year, according to\u00a0its website.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

According to\u00a0the Kommersant daily, drugs policy director Viktor Ivanov\u00a0\u2014 the\u00a0agency’s outspoken head\u00a0\u2014 will likely return to\u00a0the presidential administration where he served as a\u00a0presidential aide before joining the\u00a0agency in\u00a02008.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

In\u00a0an interview with Kommersant last week, Ivanov denied rumors that the\u00a0agency would be liquidated, saying that in\u00a0the last five years it had busted almost 350 criminal gangs, “almost 10 times more than all other law enforcement agencies put together.” He also said in\u00a0the interview that since the\u00a0agency was created, the\u00a0drug-related mortality rate in\u00a0Russia has halved.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Last October, Ivanov said that drugs are to\u00a0blame for\u00a080 percent of\u00a0all deaths of\u00a0Russians aged 18 to\u00a034 in\u00a0Russia during the\u00a0past five years. The\u00a0rate has improved, but the\u00a0number is still too high, Ivanov said in\u00a0an interview with the\u00a0TV Center television channel.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

There are 8.5 million drug addicts in\u00a0Russia\u00a0\u2014 almost 6 percent of\u00a0the population\u00a0\u2014 a\u00a0government report said in\u00a02013. Many of\u00a0them are heroin users, supplied by\u00a0the steady flow of\u00a0the opiate into\u00a0Russian from\u00a0Afghanistan through neighboring Central Asian countries. The\u00a0Russian Federation has the\u00a0highest prevalence of\u00a0opiate use in\u00a0eastern and\u00a0southeastern Europe, according to\u00a0the UN 2014 World Drug Report.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Ivanov and\u00a0his agency were often criticized for\u00a0their opposition to\u00a0drug substitution therapies. As many as 100 drug users in\u00a0Crimea have died since the\u00a0peninsula was annexed from\u00a0Ukraine by\u00a0Russia as a\u00a0direct result of\u00a0the treatment becoming illegal under Russian law, a\u00a0UN official said in\u00a0January.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

In\u00a0recent years, Ivanov’s agency has found it hard to\u00a0battle the\u00a0spread of\u00a0synthetic marijuana and\u00a0other smoking blends that are known generally as “spice.” Sold widely online, they have caused a\u00a0spate of\u00a0recent high-profile deaths.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Longtime anti-drugs crusader Yevgeny Roizman, founder of\u00a0the City Without Drugs movement in\u00a0Yekaterinburg, spoke against the\u00a0decision to\u00a0disband the\u00a0agency Monday.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

“This agency is much more effective than the\u00a0police. Moreover, competition between various agencies makes them achieve results,” he wrote in\u00a0his LiveJournal blog.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

“After investing loads of\u00a0money and\u00a0creating a\u00a0powerful professional structure that has proved its effectiveness, to\u00a0then just disband it all is a\u00a0chaotic and\u00a0absurd decision. Drug dealers are dancing with joy. Some people in\u00a0the Interior Ministry are dancing too,” he wrote.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Source: http:\/\/www.themoscowtimes.com\/<\/a> 16<\/span><\/span>th<\/span><\/span><\/sup> Feb.2015<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The\u00a0Russian government is likely to\u00a0disband the\u00a0Federal Drug Control Service, according to\u00a0an official document obtained by\u00a0The Moscow Times. The\u00a0document, signed on\u00a0Feb. 10 by\u00a0Larisa Brychyova, head of\u00a0the legal directorate of\u00a0the presidential administration, cites an\u00a0order by\u00a0President Vladimir Putin to\u00a0dissolve the\u00a0agency from\u00a0March 1. The\u00a0agency’s functions will be redistributed among the\u00a0Interior and\u00a0Health ministries, according to\u00a0the document. Business daily Vedomosti reported […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[20,104],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10607","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-others","category-political-sector"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/drugprevent.org.uk\/ppp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10607","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/drugprevent.org.uk\/ppp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/drugprevent.org.uk\/ppp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/drugprevent.org.uk\/ppp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/drugprevent.org.uk\/ppp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10607"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/drugprevent.org.uk\/ppp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10607\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/drugprevent.org.uk\/ppp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10607"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/drugprevent.org.uk\/ppp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10607"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/drugprevent.org.uk\/ppp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10607"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}