2010, There are about 80 people a day dying from drug use in Russia. This information came from the country’s Interior Minister. Rashid Nurgaliyev during a radio interview also said that according to figures, the annual death toll in Russia is about 30,000. He also said that over 550,000 people were registered with health authorities as suffering from drug addiction last year.

In 2006, there were major changes in drug seizures and arrests. The amount of heroin that was confiscated had increased by about two times as much but the amount of opium confiscated had not changed much at all. Cocaine seizures were about six times worse and they were extremely concerned that there would be a major increase of cocaine abuse within the next couples of years. Drug trafficking is extremely profitable and many young people become involved with it. Many young people at that time were living in distressed conditions and there was economic uncertainty.

Alcohol abuse in Russia

According to statistics, more than 23,000 people die because of alcohol poisoning annually and another 75,000 die of diseases that are alcohol related. The alcohol consumption in Russia is more than double the critical level that was set in place by the World Health Organization.

The Russian Government doubled vodka prices in order to fight alcohol abuse. Research shows that the impact of alcohol abuse on Russia is devastating. A 2009 report shows that more than half of the deaths among Russians aged 15 to 54 following the Soviet Collapse were alcohol related. The global report also stated that Russians consume about 1.64 gallons of pure ethanol alcohol per year. The crackdown on the sale of alcohol recently by the government that is not intended for human consumption has made a big difference in alcohol related deaths. Alcohol and vodka is an important cultural part of the Russian society. Moderate drinking is considered healthy by most Russians and is one of the leading reasons for alcohol dependency and abuse.

There are about 30,000 drug related deaths in Russia a year and the number of drug addicts just keep growing by the year. In 2005, there were 60,000 registered drug addicts, in 2006 there were 70,000 and in 2007 there were 78,000.

Today nearly 90 percent of the drug addicts in Russia abuse opiates, heroin is their drug of choice and is produced exclusively in Afghanistan. There are about 1.68 million opiate users in Russia now. Heroin is another illegal drug that is commonly abuse in Russia, for many heroin abusers, injection is their preference. Illegal drugs are brought into Russia primarily from Afghanistan, Iran and Pakistan mostly by way of the Tajik-Afghan border.

Drug abuse by way of injection is behind the fast and ever growing Aids epidemic throughout the world. In Russia the number of HIV infected people has grown immensely, it has grown from about 100,000 to one million cases in the past decade and many if not most of them are younger than 30 years of age.

Many people feel that one of the reasons drug addiction and abuse in Russia is so out of control and growing at a rapid speed is due to the lack of effective drug addiction treatment. Detoxification treatment centers are available but there is not enough drug rehabilitation treatment available to help those dealing with drug addiction and dependency get the help they need to deal with their addictions and prevent relapse. Many want to overcome their drug addictions but the availability of effective treatment centers are hard to come by.

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