The Following Report Is Part Of Kuwait News Agency (KUNA) Campaign Against Illegal Drugs And Addiction

12/25/2022 3:06:43 AM

(MENAFN- Kuwait News Agency (KUNA)) Newsdesk
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SEC-RUSSIA-DRUGS
Russia considers drug addiction threat to nat'l security

Report by Adeeb Al-Sayed
MOSCOW, Dec 25 (KUNA) -- Drugs and addiction, which claim the lives of thousands of people in Russia every year, are 'major threats to the Russian national security.'
Federal Security Department, in a statement about impacts of drugs, said 'proliferation of drugs threatens all national security domains and is not less dangerous than the use of weapons of mass destruction because it threatens existence of a nation since it targets the youth.'
The Russian government, in a bid to counter this threat, established a specialized agency in 2016 to fight drugs with the objective of providing necessary security capabilities to combat nacrotics.
There are some six million people taking drugs in Russia including 800,000 addicts aged between 16 and 30.
A website specialized in addiction, norca.net, said spread of Covid-19 in 2020 contributed to the rise in the number of addicts because of rising 'tesion, isolation, working online and diminishing job opportunities while on the other hand securing easy income through selling drugs.'
It said security authorities seized 35,600 tons of drugs in 2020, three tons more than the previous year.
The Federal State Statistics Service, Rosstat, said 7,316 people died due to drugs-related causes in 2020, some 60 percent higher than 2019.
UN Office on Drugs and Crime also confirmed that spread of Covid-19 also contributed to the rise in addiction in the US, for example, leading to death of more than 81,000 people in one year.
Russian experts suggested a link between drug addiction and alcohol, the latter being wide-spread amongst youth and elders.
They said 50,400 people died because of alcohol in 2021, 6.3 percent higher than the previous year.
Therefore, Russian President Vladimir Putin urged security authorities to intensify efforts to combat drugs since the number of crimes related to drugs reached 145,000 in 2020.
Russia is adopting multi-faceted approach to address this problem, starting with prevention and raising awareness about dangerous impacts of drugs and promotion of healthy lifestyle to helping in treatment of addicts free-of-charge.
There are tens of rehabilitation centers in Moscow and other districts which offered treatment, a salvation tool to better society. (end)
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