Drug Abuse in Russia: Emerging Pandemic or Overhyped Diversion?

Problems of Post-Communism

Volumn 50, Issue 6, 2003, Pages 12-27

  Kramer, John M ^a  

^a Mary Washington College   (United States)

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[No Author keywords available]

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EID: 0344736826     PISSN: 10758216     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1080/10758216.2003.11656060     Document Type: Review

References (145)

1. Similar sentiments have been expressed by Deputy Prime Minister Valentina Matviyenko, RIA-Novosti (September 4, 2002) and Minister of Internal Affairs Boris Gryzlov, Interfax (September 4, 2002).
2. RIA-Novosti (September 9, 2003). Data on the percentage of drug users who tested HIV-positive in 2001 from Demoscope Weekly, Nos. 89-90 (2002) (available at www.demoscope.ru). For a detailed examination of the state of HIV/AIDS in Russia, see Murray Feshbach, "Russia's Demographic and Health Meltdown," in Russia's Uncertain Economic Future (Washington, DC: Joint Economic Committee, Congress of the United States, 2002), pp. 290-97; David E. Powell, "The Problem of AIDS," in Russia's Torn Safety Nets: Health and Social Welfare During the Transition, ed. Mark Field and Judyth Twigg (New York: St. Martin's Press, 2000), pp. 123-51.
3. RIA-Novosti (September 9, 2003). Data on the percentage of drug users who tested HIV-positive in 2001 from Demoscope Weekly, Nos. 89-90 (2002) (available at www.demoscope.ru). For a detailed examination of the state of HIV/AIDS in Russia, see Murray Feshbach, "Russia's Demographic and Health Meltdown," in Russia's Uncertain Economic Future (Washington, DC: Joint Economic Committee, Congress of the United States, 2002), pp. 290-97; David E. Powell, "The Problem of AIDS," in Russia's Torn Safety Nets: Health and Social Welfare During the Transition, ed. Mark Field and Judyth Twigg (New York: St. Martin's Press, 2000), pp. 123-51.
4. ITAR-TASS (May 23, 2002).
5. The Public Opinion Foundation conducted the poll on January 11-12, 2003, drawing upon a statistically representative sample of residents in forty-four regions, territories, and republics of the Russian Federation. Complete results of the poll are available at www.fom.ru.
6. Yurii Levada, "Public Opinion at the Turn of the Century," Russian Politics and Law 40, no. 1 (January/February 2002): 71.
7. The poll interviewed a "representative nationwide sample of 1,600 people living in over 100 cities and towns," according to www.monitoring.ru.
8. For an analysis of the Soviet response to drug abuse, see John M. Kramer, "Drug Abuse in the USSR," in Soviet Social Problems, ed. Anthony Jones et al. (Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 1991), pp. 105-110.
9. For a comprehensive survey of this subject, see M. Rusakova et al., Narkotiki v Rossii (Narcotics in Russia) (2000), available at the Web site of the Russian National Center Against Narcotics: www.narcom.ru.
10. For representative examples of such arguments by officials at the Security Council, see ITAR-TASS (September 6, 2001). For remarks explicitly linking the increase in drug abuse in Russia to the activities of militants in Chechnya, see Izvestiia (October 18, 2001). President Putin has declared that drug trafficking is "firmly bound" with the "number one problem" in the world today, "the struggle with terrorism." Speech before the Security Council, September 28, 2001, available at www.president.kremlin.ru.
11. For representative examples of such arguments by officials at the Security Council, see ITAR-TASS (September 6, 2001). For remarks explicitly linking the increase in drug abuse in Russia to the activities of militants in Chechnya, see Izvestiia (October 18, 2001). President Putin has declared that drug trafficking is "firmly bound" with the "number one problem" in the world today, "the struggle with terrorism." Speech before the Security Council, September 28, 2001, available at www.president.kremlin.ru.
12. Materials on support by public officials for the death penalty for drug traffickers from ITAR-TASS (June 26, 2001). The quoted remarks are those of Eduard Rossel, governor of Sverdlovsk Region, reported by Interfax (June 18, 2001).
13. For example, Mikhail Melikhov, head of the MVD's drug-trafficking unit, charged that 4,000 ethnic-based groups are dealing in drugs in Russia, especially ethnicities from Tajikistan, Azerbaijan, and Ukraine, as well as Roma. According to Melikhov, it is "precisely gypsies" who are of particular concern in combating these groups. ITAR-TASS (August 6, 2002).
14. Voprosy narkologii, no. 1 (1999): 73.
15. RIA-Novosti (November 1, 2002).
16. The deputy prosecutor general of Russia estimates the number of so-called unsupervised children (bezprizorniki) at "close to" 3 million and contends that their asocial behavior has reached a "dangerous level." RIA-Novosti (February 19, 2002). A private clinic in St. Petersburg, working with such children, conducted a survey which found that 32 percent of the youths admitted to using "narcotics," 31 percent used "toxic substances," and about 10 percent tested "HIV-Positive." Reported in Argumenty i fakty (November 7, 2001).
17. ITAR-TASS (December 19, 2002).
18. Voprosy narkologii, no. 1 (1999): 76.
19. For recent official estimates, see ITAR-TASS (August 6, 2002); RIA-Novosti (September 24, 2002); Interfax (October 30, 2002). President Putin himself has used the figure of "more than" 3 million to denote the number of Russians who currently are "consumers of narcotics. " See www.president.kreralin.ru (October 4, 2002).
20. For recent official estimates, see ITAR-TASS (August 6, 2002); RIA-Novosti (September 24, 2002); Interfax (October 30, 2002). President Putin himself has used the figure of "more than" 3 million to denote the number of Russians who currently are "consumers of narcotics. " See www.president.kreralin.ru (October 4, 2002).
21. For recent official estimates, see ITAR-TASS (August 6, 2002); RIA-Novosti (September 24, 2002); Interfax (October 30, 2002). President Putin himself has used the figure of "more than" 3 million to denote the number of Russians who currently are "consumers of narcotics. " See www.president.kreralin.ru (October 4, 2002).
22. For recent official estimates, see ITAR-TASS (August 6, 2002); RIA-Novosti (September 24, 2002); Interfax (October 30, 2002). President Putin himself has used the figure of "more than" 3 million to denote the number of Russians who currently are "consumers of narcotics. " See www.president.kreralin.ru (October 4, 2002).
23. Aleksei Bobkov et al., "Absence of Transmission in Injecting Drug Users in Russia," Lance! (September 22, 2001): 1016-17.
24. From an interview carried by Interfax (June 26, 2003).
25. State Committee on Statistics, O narkoprestupnosti i narkomanii v Rossii (On Narcotics Crimes and Drug Abuse in Russia) (Moscow, 2001).
26. Novoe izvestiia, no. 12 (2003): 1.
27. Moskovsky komsomolets (August 5, 2003): 3.
28. Vremia MN (February 21, 2001); St. Petersburg Times (April 14-20, 1997). For the estimate of 900,000 drug users, see Versty, no. 30 (2001).
29. Vremia MN (February 21, 2001); St. Petersburg Times (April 14-20, 1997). For the estimate of 900,000 drug users, see Versty, no. 30 (2001).
30. Vremia MN (February 21, 2001); St. Petersburg Times (April 14-20, 1997). For the estimate of 900,000 drug users, see Versty, no. 30 (2001).
31. Obshchaia gazeta (March 1, 2001).
32. State Committee on Statistics, O narkoprestupnosti i narkomanii.
33. Survey data and methodology are reported in an issue devoted to the subject of drug abuse among the young in the on-line journal Demoscope Weekly, nos. 91-92 (2002) (www.demoscope.ru).
34. Data on drug-related behavior by sex from L. Keselman and M. Matskevich, Sotsialnoe prostranstvo narkotizma (Social Scope of Drug Abuse) (2000), accessible from the Web site of the Russian National Center Against Narcotics: www.narcom.ru. An English-language translation of this study appears in Russian Politics and Law 40, no. 3 (May/June 2002): 54-68. For concern about the rise in drug abuse among females, see the remarks of the director of the Ministry of Health's Research Institute on Drug Addiction quoted in Kommersant-Daily (February 27, 2002): 9.
35. Data on drug-related behavior by sex from L. Keselman and M. Matskevich, Sotsialnoe prostranstvo narkotizma (Social Scope of Drug Abuse) (2000), accessible from the Web site of the Russian National Center Against Narcotics: www.narcom.ru. An English-language translation of this study appears in Russian Politics and Law 40, no. 3 (May/June 2002): 54-68. For concern about the rise in drug abuse among females, see the remarks of the director of the Ministry of Health's Research Institute on Drug Addiction quoted in Kommersant-Daily (February 27, 2002): 9.
36. Data on drug-related behavior by sex from L. Keselman and M. Matskevich, Sotsialnoe prostranstvo narkotizma (Social Scope of Drug Abuse) (2000), accessible from the Web site of the Russian National Center Against Narcotics: www.narcom.ru. An English-language translation of this study appears in Russian Politics and Law 40, no. 3 (May/June 2002): 54-68. For concern about the rise in drug abuse among females, see the remarks of the director of the Ministry of Health's Research Institute on Drug Addiction quoted in Kommersant-Daily (February 27, 2002): 9.
37. Voprosy narkologii, no. 1 (2002): 3. Moscow data from the chairman of the Central Military Medical Commission, reported in Rossiiskaia gazeta (March 28, 2003). Data on use of drugs among military personnel in Chechnya from Nezavisimoe voennoe obozrenie (October 25-31, 2002): 3.
38. Voprosy narkologii, no. 1 (2002): 3. Moscow data from the chairman of the Central Military Medical Commission, reported in Rossiiskaia gazeta (March 28, 2003). Data on use of drugs among military personnel in Chechnya from Nezavisimoe voennoe obozrenie (October 25-31, 2002): 3.
39. Voprosy narkologii, no. 1 (2002): 3. Moscow data from the chairman of the Central Military Medical Commission, reported in Rossiiskaia gazeta (March 28, 2003). Data on use of drugs among military personnel in Chechnya from Nezavisimoe voennoe obozrenie (October 25-31, 2002): 3.
40. Data from the Ministry of Health, March 18,2003, at www.minzdravrf.ru.
41. ITAR-TASS (April 24, 2003).
42. Public Opinion Foundation, "Drugs and Drug Addiction," Population Poll 03PEN 12/22-03, released March 17, 2003. The results of the poll and the accompanying analysis are available at www.fom.ru.
43. Quoted by Associated Press (April 5, 2001).
44. United Nations Office of Drug Control and Crime Prevention, Annual Field Report 2000 - Russia, accessible from www.undcp.org.
45. According to an official in the Ministry of Internal Affairs as quoted in the Moscow Tribune (July 27, 2001).
46. Brigg Reilley et al., "Injection Drug Use and HIV in Moscow: Results of a Survey," Journal of Drug Issues (spring 2000): 305-22.
47. Data for both the ESPAD survey and the corresponding one in Moscow reported and analyzed in Ministry of Health, Narkomania: Moskava na fone evropy (Drug Abuse: Muscovites compared to Europe) (Moscow, 2000), available from the official Web site of the government of Moscow: www.mos.ru.
48. T.C. Buzina et al., "Drug Use Among Teenagers and Risks of Being HIV Infected: Results of the Survey Done Among Students of a Moscow Technical School," Narcological Issues Journal, no. 2 (1996): 64-66.
49. UNODCCP, Annual Field Report 2000 - Russia.
50. Guardian (London) (August 7, 2002).
51. Letizia Paoli, "The Development of an Illegal Drug Market: Drug Consumption and Trade in Post-Soviet Russia," British Journal of Criminology, no. 42 (2002): 23. Paoli cites unpublished works by Russian researchers to support this contention.
52. Problemy tuberkuleza, no. 2 (February 2001): 62, cited in Feshbach, "Russia's Demographic and Health Meltdown," p. 292.
53. Problemy tuberkuleza, no. 2 (February 2001): 62, cited in Feshbach, "Russia's Demographic and Health Meltdown," p. 292.
54. Cited in UNAIDS, Report on the Global Epidemic (July 2002).
55. Bobkov et al., "Absence of Transmission," data from the Ministry of Health cited in Moscow Times (November 19, 2002). In 2000, reflecting the magnitude of the problem, the officially registered incidence of hepatitis-C in Russia was 30,254, compared to 2,895 in the United States; cited in Feshbach, "Russia's Demographic and Health Meltdown," p. 298.
56. Bobkov et al., "Absence of Transmission," data from the Ministry of Health cited in Moscow Times (November 19, 2002). In 2000, reflecting the magnitude of the problem, the officially registered incidence of hepatitis-C in Russia was 30,254, compared to 2,895 in the United States; cited in Feshbach, "Russia's Demographic and Health Meltdown," p. 298.
57. Estimated percentage of female drug users who fund their habit from prostitution reported in San Francisco Chronicle (July 28, 2002). Data on the percentage of Moscow's prostitutes who are HIV-positive from Open Society Institute, Drugs, AIDS and Harm Reduction: How to Slow the HIV Epidemic in Eastern Europe and the Former Soviet Union (www.soros.org/harm-reduction/resourceguide/index2.html, 2000), p. 16. For a description of high-risk sexual practices among IDUs. see "UN: Officials Alarmed by Spread of AIDS in Former Soviet Union," RFE/RL Research Report (November 30, 2000).
58. Estimated percentage of female drug users who fund their habit from prostitution reported in San Francisco Chronicle (July 28, 2002). Data on the percentage of Moscow's prostitutes who are HIV-positive from Open Society Institute, Drugs, AIDS and Harm Reduction: How to Slow the HIV Epidemic in Eastern Europe and the Former Soviet Union (www.soros.org/harm-reduction/resourceguide/index2.html, 2000), p. 16. For a description of high-risk sexual practices among IDUs. see "UN: Officials Alarmed by Spread of AIDS in Former Soviet Union," RFE/RL Research Report (November 30, 2000).
59. Estimated percentage of female drug users who fund their habit from prostitution reported in San Francisco Chronicle (July 28, 2002). Data on the percentage of Moscow's prostitutes who are HIV-positive from Open Society Institute, Drugs, AIDS and Harm Reduction: How to Slow the HIV Epidemic in Eastern Europe and the Former Soviet Union (www.soros.org/harm-reduction/resourceguide/index2.html, 2000), p. 16. For a description of high-risk sexual practices among IDUs. see "UN: Officials Alarmed by Spread of AIDS in Former Soviet Union," RFE/RL Research Report (November 30, 2000).
60. Reported by Interfax (February 21, 2001), citing the views of "a Russian specialist on narcotics use." In the same vein, the minister of health believes that 25-30 percent of the Russian population has a "biological disposition" (biologicheskuyu sklonnost) to abuse drugs, and another 40 percent have a "weak disposition" to do so. Izvestiia (October 18, 2001).
61. See his remarks reported in Izvestiia (October 18, 2001).
62. Posted on www.president.kremlin.ru (December 19, 2002).
63. Moscow News (December 25, 2002).
64. Polling data from Public Opinion Foundation, "Drugs and Drug Addiction." For a representative exposition of such themes, see the interview with the president of the Russian Association of Child Psychiatrists and Psychologists, Izvestia.ru (June 27, 2002). Survey data substantiate this assessment. Thus, the Council on Foreign and Defense Policy reported on the results of a poll among youths in several Russian cities and agricultural communities that found that their "social situation," especially the "loss of moral values and disbelief in the potential for self realization," was the "fundamental" reason they turned to drugs. In the same poll, 60 percent of the youthful respondents reported beginning to use drugs when there was "nowhere to turn" in their personal life and they had ceased to believe "in those who professed to be interested in the solution of their problems." Cited in Council on Foreign and Defense Policy, Narkomanii v Rossii: ugroia natsii (Drug Addiction in Russia: A National Threat) (2000). Accessible from the Web site of the Russian National Center Against Narcotics: www.narcom.ru.
65. Moscow News (February 14, 2001).
66. For an analysis of these differing estimates, see Kommersant-dengi (October 18, 2002): 26. In contrast, Profil (December 9, 2002) estimates that the illegal drug trade could total between $15 billion and $20 billion in 2002. Estimate for Moscow, according to MVD data, from Vecherniaia Moskva (August 13, 2003): 3.
67. For an analysis of these differing estimates, see Kommersant-dengi (October 18, 2002): 26. In contrast, Profil (December 9, 2002) estimates that the illegal drug trade could total between $15 billion and $20 billion in 2002. Estimate for Moscow, according to MVD data, from Vecherniaia Moskva (August 13, 2003): 3.
68. For an analysis of these differing estimates, see Kommersant-dengi (October 18, 2002): 26. In contrast, Profil (December 9, 2002) estimates that the illegal drug trade could total between $15 billion and $20 billion in 2002. Estimate for Moscow, according to MVD data, from Vecherniaia Moskva (August 13, 2003): 3.
69. UNODCCP, Annual Field Report 2000 - Russia.
70. ITAR-TASS (August 6, 2002).
71. Kommersant-Daily (September 26, 2002): 6. On drug trafficking by military personnel, see also Novaia gazeta (October 17, 2002), which states that even personnel on the general staff of the armed forces are involved.
72. Kommersant-Daily (September 26, 2002): 6. On drug trafficking by military personnel, see also Novaia gazeta (October 17, 2002), which states that even personnel on the general staff of the armed forces are involved.
73. According to a high-ranking MVD official reported by ITAR-TASS (June 25, 2002).
74. UNODCCP, Annual Field Report 2000 - Russia. See the dispatch carried by Interfax, December 29, 2002, reporting the prediction of a high-ranking official in the State Customs Committee that producers in Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania would soon become the dominant exporters of synthetic drugs to the Russian market.
75. ITAR-TASS (June 25, 2002).
76. For a discussion of such practices, see, for example, Moskovsky komsomolets (August 23, 2001); News.Buryatia.Ru posted on www.Regions.Ru (September 4, 2002).
77. For a discussion of such practices, see, for example, Moskovsky komsomolets (August 23, 2001); News.Buryatia.Ru posted on www.Regions.Ru (September 4, 2002).
78. Agence France-Presse (June 24, 2001). If these data are representative of the overall prison population of 890,000 at the end of 2002, then there are upwards of 380,000 IDUs just in prisons. In contrast, a representative of the Ministry of Justice reports that at the end of 2002 there were 102,000 drug addicts in the prison population (compared to 72,000 alcoholics). Interfax (December 21, 2002).
79. Trud (March 15, 2002): 1.
80. For a recent discussion of underground drug laboratories in St. Petersburg, see the interview with a high-ranking MVD official carried by ITAR-TASS (January 10, 2002).
81. Moscow Times (November 12, 1995): 39.
82. Voprosy narkologii, no. 4 (1998): 70. While not expressing it as harshly, Chairman Cherkesov of Gosnarkokontrol has expressed essentially the same sentiments, admitting that Russia is still "only developing" a strategy to combat drug abuse. Quoted in Moskovsky komsomolets (August 5, 2003): 3.
83. Voprosy narkologii, no. 4 (1998): 70. While not expressing it as harshly, Chairman Cherkesov of Gosnarkokontrol has expressed essentially the same sentiments, admitting that Russia is still "only developing" a strategy to combat drug abuse. Quoted in Moskovsky komsomolets (August 5, 2003): 3.
84. ITAR-TASS (January 28, 2002) reported the promulgation of the program. President Putin's remarks on the main direction of the program posted on www.president.kremlin.ru (September 24, 2002).
85. Data on proposed spending for the program from Interfax (September 4, 2002). Minister Gryzlov's remarks quoted in Slovo (November 23, 2001). Commenting on the limited funding for drug-related initiatives, the authoritative Council on Foreign and Defense Policy has publicly urged that Russia allocate "no less" than 2 billion rubles ($66 million) annually for this purpose. Council on Foreign and Defense Policy, Narkomania v Rossii.
86. Data on proposed spending for the program from Interfax (September 4, 2002). Minister Gryzlov's remarks quoted in Slovo (November 23, 2001). Commenting on the limited funding for drug-related initiatives, the authoritative Council on Foreign and Defense Policy has publicly urged that Russia allocate "no less" than 2 billion rubles ($66 million) annually for this purpose. Council on Foreign and Defense Policy, Narkomania v Rossii.
87. The official resolution establishing the committee was published in Rossiiskaia gazeta (June 11, 2003): 9.
88. For Cherkesov's professional background, see Moscow Times (March 11, 2003). Materials on staffing for the new committee from Argumenty i fakti (March 19, 2003). See the interview with Cherkesov in Rossiiskaia gazeta (April 16, 2003): 1, for his views on the role and functions of the committee.
89. For Cherkesov's professional background, see Moscow Times (March 11, 2003). Materials on staffing for the new committee from Argumenty i fakti (March 19, 2003). See the interview with Cherkesov in Rossiiskaia gazeta (April 16, 2003): 1, for his views on the role and functions of the committee.
90. For Cherkesov's professional background, see Moscow Times (March 11, 2003). Materials on staffing for the new committee from Argumenty i fakti (March 19, 2003). See the interview with Cherkesov in Rossiiskaia gazeta (April 16, 2003): 1, for his views on the role and functions of the committee.
91. Voprosy narkologii, no. 4 (1997): 11-15, publishes those articles of the law relevant to drug abuse and drug addiction. A summary in English of the same provisions will be found in International Narcotics Control Strategy Report, 1998 (Washington, DC: U.S. Department of State, 1999).
92. Voprosy narkologii, no. 4 (1997): 11-15, publishes those articles of the law relevant to drug abuse and drug addiction. A summary in English of the same provisions will be found in International Narcotics Control Strategy Report, 1998 (Washington, DC: U.S. Department of State, 1999).
93. RIA-Novosti (September 24, 2002).
94. Pokrovskii's comments quoted from an interview in the Observer (London) (February 11, 2001). Polling data from a nationwide poll of 1,500 individuals, conducted between March 22 and March 24, 2002. Complete results of the poll are available on the Web site of the Public Opinion Foundation: www.fom.ru.
95. State Committee on Statistics, O narkoprestupnosli i narkomanii v Rossii; idem, Cenderye i vozrastnye aspekty prestupnosti v 1999 - 2001 godakh (Gender and Age Aspects of Addiction in 1999-2001) (Moscow, 2002).
96. Data on drug-related criminality in 2002 reported in Demoscope Weekly, nos. 121-122 (2003) (www.demoscope.ru). The minister of education's comments quoted in Izvesliia (May 21, 2003).
97. Data on drug-related criminality in 2002 reported in Demoscope Weekly, nos. 121-122 (2003) (www.demoscope.ru). The minister of education's comments quoted in Izvesliia (May 21, 2003).
98. Putin's comments were posted on the Kremlin's official Web site, www.president.kremlin.ru (March 12, 2003).
99. In a December 25, 2001 speech before the Ministry of Internal Affairs collegium, Putin castigated senior police officials for inflating their success in combating crime by excluding 68,000 crimes from the official statistics in just the first half of 2001. The speech is available at www.president.kremlin.ru. Regarding the allegation that the police now stage many crimes just to "solve" them, see Versita, no. 19 (2001).
100. Data on the scale of bribery offered by drug traffickers from Nezavisimaia gazeta (August 9, 2001). For a detailed analysis of drug-related corruption in the MVD, including the survey data from the ministry cited herein, see Kommersant-dengi (October 18, 2002): 26.
101. Data on the scale of bribery offered by drug traffickers from Nezavisimaia gazeta (August 9, 2001). For a detailed analysis of drug-related corruption in the MVD, including the survey data from the ministry cited herein, see Kommersant-dengi (October 18, 2002): 26.
102. Data from an interview with an official at the Security Council posted on www.pravda.ru (September 28, 2001).
103. Narkotiki v Rossii.
104. UNODCCP, Annual Field Report 2000 - Russia.
105. As an official at the Ministry of Health admitted, the ministry too was "not delighted with all the provisions" of the 1998 legislation. Novae vremia (October 12, 1997). A U.S. government report bluntly states that the law "has done nothing to discourage growing substance abuse in Russia." U.S. Department of State, International Narcotics Control Strategy Report 2001 (Washington, DC: Department of State, 2002), p. 78.
106. As an official at the Ministry of Health admitted, the ministry too was "not delighted with all the provisions" of the 1998 legislation. Novae vremia (October 12, 1997). A U.S. government report bluntly states that the law "has done nothing to discourage growing substance abuse in Russia." U.S. Department of State, International Narcotics Control Strategy Report 2001 (Washington, DC: Department of State, 2002), p. 78.
107. In the judgment of Russia's representative to UNAIDS, such programs must reach at least 60 percent of IDUs if the government is to substantially reduce the incidence of HIV. Reported in the Chicago Tribune (July 21, 2002): 4.
108. Council on Foreign and Defense Policy, Narhomania v Rossii.
109. Assessing the program in Kaliningrad, an ITAR-TASS dispatch of August 20, 2002, describes it as one of the "main causes" reducing the incidence of HIV in an oblast previously among the highest in Russia.
110. For details of this initiative, see the remarks of the minister of education, ITAR-TASS (May 19, 2003). The initiative has a punitive component that could undermine its effectiveness-teachers are supposed to "unmask" (vyiavit) addicts among their students by learning how to smell the telltale signs of drugs on them. Izvestiia (May 21, 2003).
111. Rossiiskie vesti (July 4, 2001). Information on the Tiumen telephone hotline from Vslukh.ru posted on www.regions.ru (August 22, 2002). Materials on the initiatives in Ufa from Rosbalt (February 5, 2003).
112. Council on Foreign and Defense Policy, Narkomania v Rossii.
113. Putin's remarks before the Security Council, September 28, 2001. RIA-Novosti (September 23, 2002) quotes the comments of Putin's deputy chief of staff.
114. Council on Foreign and Defense Policy, Narkomania v Rossii. Citing an estimate by unidentified "specialists" in narcology, Trud (July 3, 2001) reports that narcological clinics successfully rehabilitate "approximately 5 percent" of the addicts undergoing treatment. Since 1991, financial constraints have forced the closing of about a third of all narcological clinics and the dismissal of a quarter of their doctors. Reported in Demoscope Weekly, nos. 91-92 (2002).
115. Council on Foreign and Defense Policy, Narkomania v Rossii. Citing an estimate by unidentified "specialists" in narcology, Trud (July 3, 2001) reports that narcological clinics successfully rehabilitate "approximately 5 percent" of the addicts undergoing treatment. Since 1991, financial constraints have forced the closing of about a third of all narcological clinics and the dismissal of a quarter of their doctors. Reported in Demoscope Weekly, nos. 91-92 (2002).
116. Council on Foreign and Defense Policy, Narkomania v Rossii. Citing an estimate by unidentified "specialists" in narcology, Trud (July 3, 2001) reports that narcological clinics successfully rehabilitate "approximately 5 percent" of the addicts undergoing treatment. Since 1991, financial constraints have forced the closing of about a third of all narcological clinics and the dismissal of a quarter of their doctors. Reported in Demoscope Weekly, nos. 91-92 (2002).
117. Reportedly, patients were not put under a general anesthetic during the operation so that doctors could "monitor their responses as they probe[d] the brain." Guardian (London) (August 9, 2002).
118. Undated speech by the minister of health to the Government Commission on the Prevention of Drug Abuse and Drug Trafficking, posted August 2002 on the Web site of the Ministry of Health: www.minzdravrf.ru.
119. The deputy prime minister, Valentina Matvienko, insisted that the government would fund the anti-drug program in 2002. ITAR-TASS (August 7, 2002).
120. Minister of health's speech, posted August 2002. See Nezavisimaia gazeta (March 7, 2003): 7, for the expression of similar sentiments by the MVD official.
121. Novaia gazeta (October 17, 2002). The critic heads the well-known Vozrozhdeniye drug-treatment center, which has operated in St. Petersburg since 1987.
122. Quoted by www.pravda.ru (September 28, 2001).
123. Response to a question on a nationally televised call-in show, December 19, 2002; the full transcript is available at www.president.kremlin.ru.
124. Novye region, posted on www.Regions.ru (February 8, 2003).
125. Voprosy narkologii, no. 4 (1998); no. 2 (2000).
126. Voprosy narkologii, no. 4 (1998); no. 2 (2000).
127. Moskavsky komsomolets (August 5, 2003): 3.
128. International Narcotics Control Strategy Report, 2001, p. 78.
129. I b i d.
130. See the criticisms to this effect by First Deputy Foreign Minister Viacheslav Trubnikov. ITAR-TASS (August 23, 2002).
131. Interfax (October 17, 2001).
132. ITAR-TASS (April 22, 2001), Whether any of this will come about remains uncertain, because as President Putin admitted, they "require a massive amount of money, which we do not have." RIA-Novosti (September 4, 2002). Minister of Internal Affairs Gryzlov has urged Western governments to provide financial assistance to strengthen the borders of the CIS against drug traffickers, since much of what they transport is intended for markets in the West. Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty Newsline (November 14, 2002).
133. ITAR-TASS (May 13, 2003).
134. Estimated flow of drugs to Russia traversing Kazakhstan, according to the head of the State Customs Committee, RIA-Novosti (September 24, 2002). President Putin's proposal for a "common border" with selected Central Asian states posted on www.regions.ru (July 8, 2002).
135. Interfax (May 23, 2003).
136. New York Times (August 25, 2002): A11.
137. Interfax (September 26, 2002). The United States has granted Kazakhstan $530,000 to bolster its efforts against drug trafficking and organized crime, Interfax (December 12, 2002).
138. Thomas Jefferson, "Notes on Virginia" (1782), cited in A New Dictionary of Historical Quotations on Historical Principles, ed. H.L. Mencken (New York: Knopf: 1946), p. 223.
139. RIA-Novosti (September 24, 2002) carries a list of these initiatives.
140. See. for example, the comments of the first deputy secretary of the Security Council, reported by www.izvestia.ru (June 26, 2002).
141. Speech before the Security Council, September 28, 2001.
142. I b i d.
143. Reported by ITAR-TASS (February 20, 2002). For details of the joint initiative of the Moscow Duma and the State Duma, see the report by RIA-Novosti (January 23, 2002).
144. Reported by Izvestiia (October 18, 2001). Argumenty i fakty (October 10, 2001) suggests that students aged fourteen and above will be tested.
145. Reported by Izvestiia (October 18, 2001). Argumenty i fakty (October 10, 2001) suggests that students aged fourteen and above will be tested.