Drugs
Main article: Drugs
2024
In Moscow, a private clinic and pharmacies organized the sale of psychotropic drugs
In mid-August 2024, it became known that a scheme of illegal trade in psychotropic drugs through a private medical clinic and pharmacy chains was opened in Moscow. As established by the investigating authorities, the Preventive Medical Center and related pharmacies have established the sale of potent substances, such as Lyrica and Xanax, which were illegally distributed under the guise of prescription drugs. Read more here.
A ton of cocaine worth 11 billion rubles was found in St. Petersburg
On January 10, 2024, the Federal Customs Service (FCS) of Russia announced the detention of a large consignment of drugs in the Big Port of St. Petersburg. They tried to disguise the prohibited product in the form of white powder with stickers with emblems of the fashion brand. Read more here.
2023
Number of blocked sites with drug posts up 25%
For 2023 Russia , more than 104,000 Internet pages with about were blocked information. The drugs growth, compared to 2022, was 25% (78,800 pages in 2022). In addition, the number of blocked pages related to the involvement of children in illegal activities increased: from 20,700 to 28,400, showing an increase of 37%. This was announced on January 16, 2024 by the press service of the deputy. State Duma of the Russian Federation Anton Nemkin
Russian law prohibits the publication of information on the methods of development, manufacture and use of drugs, places of their distribution. Roskomnadzor, based on materials from authorized bodies, enters pages with this information into the register of prohibited sites, which obliges providers to restrict access to them.
According to experts, the role of Roskomnadzor in blocking malicious pages is "rather technical." So, in relation to pro-drug content, the main role in blocking decisions is played by the Ministry of Internal Affairs, said Alexandra Orekhovich, a teacher at Moscow Digital School. At the same time, Rosmolodezh is engaged in the analysis and blocking of materials involving children and adolescents in illegal activities.
 | Not so important, we are talking about the problem of drugs, fraud or, for example, illegal bookmakers - they instantly change their addresses using mirrors, that is, exact copies of the original sites. Therefore, while the regulator blocks one page, a new one instantly appears. In some cases, such mirrors exist in parallel, - said the deputy. |  |
| | If earlier such practices were hidden in the "darknet," then the development of social networks, especially instant messengers, allowed offenders to expand their own "target audience." Thus, the anonymity offered by social networks, as well as the ability to conduct such accounts from abroad, greatly complicate the fight against drug trafficking. At the same time, offenders use the same strategy in the event of an account blocking by a social network - they create understudies of their channels. It is not uncommon for a drug dealer to inform the audience in advance about how to find a site in the event of its blocking, for example, initially offering to maintain a "spare" channel, the deputy said. | |
| | Such pages should be blocked instantly, until all the circumstances are clarified. In addition, continuous monitoring of such pages should be automated. At the same time, the fundamental solution to the problem still lies in the search for the initiators of such a business, - concluded the parliamentarian. | |
The number of site locks for drug publications in Russia increased by 25% to 104 thousand web pages
The number of site locks for drug publications in Russia in 2023 increased by 25% compared to 2022 and exceeded 104 thousand web pages. Such data in Roskomnadzor were disclosed in mid-January 2024. Read more here.
Lithuanian drug mafia caught in Russia with hashish for 2 billion rubles
In the Leningrad region, a consignment of hashish, which amounted to 812 kg of the drug, which was illegally transported to the territory of the Russian Federation, was seized from smugglers. The press service of the Federal Customs Service (FCS) of the Russian Federation announced this on August 24, 2023. Read more here.
Illegal darknet marketplace advertised on Moscow street banners
In early February 2023, an advertisement for an illegal Darknet Marketplace called BlackSprut was seen in several places in Moscow. A large animated banner depicted a masked girl with the caption "In search of the best come to me." Read more here.
2022
The number of crimes under the article on drug production increased by 42%
The number of crimes under the article on drug production in Russia in 2022 increased by 42% compared to 2021. This is evidenced by the data of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation, which were published at the end of January 2023.
According to the statistics of the department, the number of detected crimes related to the transfer of drugs increased by 11% in 2022, with sales - by 7.6%.
In 2022, law enforcement agencies seized about nine tons of marijuana from illegal circulation in Russia, Russian Interior Minister Vladimir Kolokoltsev said at a meeting of the State Anti-Drug Committee (GAK) at the end of December 2022. Kolokoltsev also stressed that strict measures against drug-containing hemp will remain in the country, despite the fact that a quarter of the world's countries are tolerant of it. Russia, according to the head of the department, has already rejected a number of "narcoliberal" initiatives of the World Health Organization.
According to Rossiyskaya Gazeta, there has been a tendency in Russia to mitigate the punishment for drug trafficking in the country, when the real term is changed to a suspended one or fines are imposed altogether. Deputies announced this in 2022, proposing to correct this - at the legislative level to establish that crimes related to drug trafficking in the country cannot be punished below the lower limit or a milder type of punishment is imposed than provided for by the relevant article.
The authors of the bill propose to amend Article 64 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation in order to counter drug trafficking, to strengthen criminal liability for their sale. And to supplement the provisions of the article with a reference to Article 2281 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. The latter provides for responsibility for the illegal production and sale of narcotic drugs, psychotropic substances or their analogues, as well as plants containing such substances.[1]
The number of blocked drug sites in Russia has tripled in two years
In 2022, 78,812 Internet materials with information related to the methods of manufacture, use and trafficking of drugs and other psychotropic substances were removed or blocked in Russia. Vedomosti wrote about this on December 25, 2022, citing data from Roskomnadzor.
According to the statistics of the regulator, in 2021 it blocked 72,408 drug sites, a year earlier - 25,185. In 2018-2019. the number of resources blocked by Roskomnadzor on this topic was at the level of 2020, the newspaper writes.
She recalls that sites with information, one way or another related to the search, sale, use of drugs and psychotropics, are subject to blocking in Russia. This is regulated by Art. 15.1 of the Law "On Information, Information Technologies and Information Protection." According to it, resources with information about drugs, extremism, methods of suicide, as well as child pornography should be included in the register of prohibited sites, and access to them is prescribed to be limited.
In November 2022, sites blocked in the countries of the Commonwealth of Independent States for the distribution of drugs were included in a single list, the Russian Interior Ministry said. It is available on the website of the Bureau for the Coordination of the Fight against Organized Crime and Other Dangerous Types of Crimes in the CIS. To understand whether a site is blocked, you need to enter its domain name, as well as security code. If the site is listed, the resource will give the name of the country that is part of the CIS, which has limited access to the site.
The press service of the Ministry of Internal Affairs notes that the service was created on behalf of the head of the department, Vladimir Kolokoltsev, on September 8, 2022. The list includes sites with the help of which narcotic and psychotropic substances, their analogues and precursors (components for their creation) were distributed[2]
Rosstat set code 157 for accounting for drug costs
Rosstat demanded to take into account in household expenses the payment of sex services and the purchase of drugs. Special codes were established for these items of expenses by November 2022, writes Nezavisimaya Gazeta. In general, payment for drugs and prostitutes in the structure of expenses takes 4-5%, which corresponds to the cost of household appliances.
Payment for prostitution is included as an integral part of the general section "payment for services" under the code 451, and the purchase of drugs is included in the section "non-food products" with the code "157."
Drug trafficking routes from Afghanistan to Russia
Ferghana Valley is a mountainous hard-to-reach area, which is chosen by drug dealers and smugglers. The Batken-Isfana highway runs at the southwestern end: by 2022, all the main skirmishes between the Kyrgyz and Tajiks occur in this section.
Most of the local population (regardless of the country of residence) closely cooperates with various groups. Often this is the only way to somehow survive.
Only the indigenous citizens of the region know this area well - including secret mountain routes used to transport various smuggled goods north to Kazakhstan and Russia.
The drug trafficking route, despite the use of secretive paths in mountainous areas, could not be used without the knowledge and assistance of the authorities.
Border conflicts between Tajik and Kyrgyz military personnel occur almost regularly after the collapse of the USSR. Both countries share more than 900 kilometers of a joint border, but only half are fully demarcated.
As of September 2022, 70 disputed sites remain. Both countries refuse to seek a compromise. And this only applies to controversial areas: conflicts also arise due to interethnic hatred and disputes over water.
The absence of a clear border between states and, as a result, the desire of each of the parties to snatch as "fat" a piece as possible is a stumbling block.
Even a couple of tens of meters in favor of one of the countries will significantly increase the cost of tariffs for "transit travel," that is, a bribe.
Despite statements Talibs about the fight against production drugs in, Afghanistan export volumes after their coming to power by 2022 increased several times.
Habibullo Vohidzoda, director of the drug control agency in Tajikistan, said that since the Taliban came to power, the level of seized narcotic substances from Afghanistan has tripled (three tons against one).
The most active in the cultivation of opiates is the province of Badakhshan, from where the route to Russia originates.
The main and more risky is transit from Afghan Ishkashim through the capital region of Tajikistan, Rawat in the Sogdi region and Kyrgyz Batken and Osh in the direction of Kazakhstan.
Despite the fact that both Tajik and Kyrgyz security forces are already firmly sitting on "subsidies" from smugglers, there is a possibility of seizure of cargo. For this reason, there is another route.
The second route runs through the Vakhan corridor of Afghanistan and the Pamir tract in the Gorno-Badakhshan region (GBAO) of Tajikistan and subsequently the familiar Osh to the territory of Kazakhstan.
However, due to the difficult terrain in the GBAO, a large amount of cargo cannot be carried along this path. It is less cost-effective in contrast to the route through the Fergana Valley.
After entering the Kazakh territory, caravans use the sparsely populated desert regions of the country for invisible movement to the Russian border.
There, in poorly protected areas or also through bribery of certain persons, the goods reach their destination in the Chelyabinsk (Troitsk) or Orenburg (Novotroitsk) regions, and then diverge throughout Russia.
The Ministry of Internal Affairs detained 63 people for selling drugs on the Internet. They legalized 2 billion rubles
On July 14, 2022 MINISTRY OF INTERNAL AFFAIRS RUSSIAN FEDERATION , they reported the detention of 63 people in the case of the sale of drugs on the Internet. During the investigation, more than 22 kg were withdrawn from circulation drugs and revealed 70 crimes committed under Art. 228.1 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (circulation and sale of drugs and their analogues)
According to investigators, from January 2016 to December 2020, in several regions of the European part of Russia, attackers sold synthetic drugs on a significant, large and especially large scale. Distribution was carried out in a contactless way through several online stores.
According to the official representative of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia Irina Volk, the proceeds from the drug trade came to the electronic wallets controlled by the defendants, which were registered to unauthorized persons not aware of the illegal activities. Then, to hide the source of their origin, the money was transferred several times to other accounts. At the same time, in order to exclude the possibility of identifying payments, they were arbitrarily divided into small amounts that do not fall under the established control limits.
Thus, according to the materials of the financial investigation of the Federal Financial Monitoring Service, as well as the materials of the criminal case and the conclusion of a comprehensive forensic accounting and financial and economic examination, more than 2 billion rubles acquired as a result of the illegal sale of narcotic drugs as part of a criminal community were legalized, Irina Volk clarified.
In the near future, members of a criminal organization will be charged with committing a crime under Part 4 of Art. 174.1 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation ("Legalization of funds"), the Ministry of Internal Affairs reported on July 14, 2022.[3]
Moscow signed a contract for the analysis of wastewater from schools for drugs
On February 15, 2022, the Directorate for Ensuring the Activities of State Institutions of the Moscow Department of Science and Education signed a contract with the Skolkovo Institute of Science and Technology (Skoltech) in the amount of 42.4 million rubles. The contractor will have to analyze 300 Moscow schools, special schools and colleges located in the center to located in Zelenograd, Troitsk and Kotlovka, for the content of narcotic substances in wastewater. Read more here.
Medical institutions obliged to keep records of the consumption of narcotic drugs in a new journal
On March 1, 2022, a decree of the Government of the Russian Federation on new rules for accounting for the consumption of narcotic drugs in Russian medical institutions will enter into force. This became known in mid-February 2022.
The format of keeping a log will be changed from landscape to book (vertical), due to which the columns taking into account the amount and state of narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances will change both the amount and the amount of information. Data taking into account the arrival and consumption of narcotic drugs will be entered in the log from the bottom up.
In addition, the list of persons with the authority to certify drug registers will significantly expand. The head of the medical institution can take over this function or appoint the person responsible for approving the accounting documentation. Also, it is mandatory that in each unit conducting operations with narcotic substances, it is necessary to appoint those responsible for maintaining accounting logs (as a rule, senior nurses of departments do this).
Both paper and electronic forms of drug registration journals will remain unchanged upon the entry into force of the new decree. Paper journals must be reset, numbered page by page, stitched and certified by an authorized specialist or head of a medical institution. The electronic log shall be printed monthly, stitched together, certified in accordance with the established procedure and dropped into the log after the expiration of the accounting period for a period of one year.
From March 1, 2022, all departments of medical institutions that store and use narcotic drugs will be provided with logs of a new sample, to which it will be necessary to transfer data from the beginning of 2022 and assure them.
As part of filling out the logs, the requirement to approve the frequency of making records was excluded - now they must be entered by the responsible employee during the day when the transaction was made with them (receipt for storage, consumption or write-off). The requirement to maintain end-to-end numbering relating to both receipt and drug consumption was also added.
For violations of the rules for accounting for narcotic drugs, a medical institution can be fined up to 400 thousand rubles. under part 1 of article 6.16 of the Administrative Code of the Russian Federation. [4]]
2021
Drug addiction diagnosed in 227 thousand Russians
In 2021, 390 thousand Russians used drugs. 227 thousand of these citizens were diagnosed with drug addiction, said Deputy Prime Minister Tatyana Golikova in December 2022.
Basically, such a diagnosis was made to people aged 18-39 years - such 60%. Golikova's indicator is alarming. At the same time, the statistics do not include cases of appeal to private organizations.
According to TASS, Golikova asked the Ministry of Health and Roszdravnadzor to pay additional attention to the problem. The number of people who use opioid drugs is declining. At the same time, there are more those who use "synthetics," psychostimulants and cannabioids. Golikova considers it necessary to update the list of toxic substances.
Since 2012, there has been a 39% drop in the number of patients with drug use behavioural disorder. By 2021, there were 1.8 million of them, while in 2012 the figure was 2.9 million. Golikova called this the result of the implementation of the state anti-alcohol and anti-drug policy and a set of measures to strengthen the drug treatment service.
| | But these are still alarming figures, because we see official statistics, but we do not know about those patients who turned to private organizations, and what the situation is happening there, the Deputy Prime Minister emphasized. | |
In 2021, a law was adopted, according to which imprisonment of up to 15 years is provided for inducement to use drugs on the Internet.
It is specified that this act provides for imprisonment from five to ten years with restriction of freedom for up to two years or without it. The punishment can be increased by a period of 12 to 15 years if this act leads to the death of two or more victims. Also, the offender will be prohibited from holding certain positions for up to 20 years.[5]
Drugs in Russia use 1.8 million people
1.8 million people are used in Russia, which is more than in the countries of Eastern and Central Europe, as well as Central Asia (ECA). This is evidenced by the data of the Commission on Drug Policy of Eastern and Central Europe and Central Asia (ECECACD), released in November 2021.
According to experts, statistics on the number of people using drugs in Russia are associated with an increase in HIV-infected people. Only VECA remains the only region in the world where the number of new HIV infections among all age groups is growing.
Russian drug policy is based on stigma and punishment, as well as disregard for human rights, the organization said.
Russia In - as well as in,, Armenia,, Azerbaijan, and Georgia Estonia- the Hungary Latvia Moldova use of narcotic drugs "still" is considered an administrative offense, ECECACD points out. Despite the fact that the total number of prisoners in the Russian Federation is decreasing, the number of people convicted of drug trafficking is growing in parallel.
In order to separate administrative responsibility for possession from criminal responsibility, to determine the severity of punishment, as well as social or medical alternatives, in Russia (as well as in most other countries of Eastern and Central Europe and Central Asia) the threshold amounts of drugs determined by law are applied.
| | The choice of threshold quantities is very rarely scientifically justified... Threshold amounts are set at such a low level that does not correspond to realistic conditions and practices for the storage and use of drugs, the authors of the report believe. | |
In addition, the compilers of the report indicate, "the Russian drug control is subordinate to law enforcement agencies, and not to public health and science."[6]
2020
60% rise in drug deaths to 7,316
Drug mortality in Russia at the end of 2020 soared by 60% and reached 7316 people against 4469 who died in 2019. This is evidenced by Rosstat data.
As RBC writes with reference to the statistics published by the agency, in 2016-2018. mortality in Russia from drug-related causes was measured at about 4.4-4.8 thousand.
In the category of mortality from drugs, Rosstat includes those who died from mental disorders as a result of abuse of prohibited substances, as well as those who died from accidental poisoning with drugs or hallucinogens and drug poisoning "with uncertain intentions, not classified elsewhere."
Rosstat also leads to mortality from mental disorders as a result of drug abuse, and in addition, from accidental and intentional poisoning with narcotic or other psychoactive substances. The department allocates these causes of death in separate categories.
The agency, the newspaper notes, grouped data on 300 codes of a short Russian nomenclature of causes of death, for the first time indicating among them a coronavirus infection, from which 144,691 citizens of the country died in a year.
But the impact of the pandemic on mortality is wider than the number of people who died directly from COVID-19. One of the other channels of influence is alcohol and drugs. According to the American Institute for Health Measurement and Assessment, the psychological impact of a pandemic and related quarantine restrictions can lead to aggravation of mental disorders, increased use of alcoholic beverages and narcotic drugs.
Against the background of a sharp increase in deaths from drug addiction in 2020, the number of registered crimes related to drug trafficking decreased by 0.2% - the third year in a row, follows from the data of the Prosecutor General's Office.[7]
Rising drug prices amid COVID-19 pandemic
2019
Surge in the reception of amphetamines by metro workers, taxis and couriers in Moscow
In 2019, within the framework of planned professional examinations in the metropolitan metro, the number of cases of drug intoxication of metro train drivers has sharply increased.
"The bill goes to dozens. People take amphetamines and other narcotic substances due to the excessive work schedule caused by the lack of employees. "
The topic is so serious that it is under the control of the metro security service and the Moscow FSB.
Another source from the transport department of the FSB confirmed the information from the Moscow metro.
According to him, the special services also record a sharp increase in the consumption of amphetamines and other drugs by drivers of the capital's taxi, truckers and couriers of postal services.
Popularity of drugs in different cities of Russia
Mephedrone is in the lead in almost all regions; in 2010, the drug was officially banned in Russia. Before the ban, it was relatively freely sold and even positioned as a legal substitute for cocaine and other stimulants. Also, in almost all regions, cocaine ranks last (most likely, due to the price, its popularity is not great, people prefer analogues cheaper).
See also
Notes
- ↑ The Ministry of Internal Affairs recorded an increase of 42% over the year of crimes under the article on drug production
- ↑ The number of blocked drug sites tripled in two years
- ↑ The Ministry of Internal Affairs opened a criminal case on the legalization of 2 billion rubles during the sale of drugs on the network
- ↑ [Resolution No. 2117
- ↑ In 2021, drug addiction was diagnosed in 220 thousand Russians
- ↑ International Commission on Drug Policy criticized the Russian approach to the problem
- ↑ Drug deaths in Russia increased by 60% amid pandemic
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