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Drug abuse growing among conscripts - Defense Ministry

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MOSCOW, June 20 (RIA Novosti) - The number of drug users among conscripts drafted in spring 2006 rose 3.5% on the conscription period in fall 2005, a Defense Ministry official said Tuesday.

"The number of conscripts who say they are regular drug users has grown in number from 0.5% during the fall 2005 call-up to 4% in the current spring [April-June] conscription period," said Nikolai Reznik, in charge of educational work at the Defense Ministry.

Reznik said most conscripts admitted taking soft drugs, including marijuana.

He also said more men were joining the armed forces after completing a higher education this spring. The number rose 3-5% against the 2005 fall period, which lasts from October to December, he said.

Low levels of education and poor health among conscripts have been major problems hindering the Defense Ministry's conscription efforts. The ministry earlier reported that only 9%-10% of eligible population was currently being conscripted, compared with 50% in the 1980s.

Many potential conscripts have legal grounds for exemption or deferment from army service.

The Defense Ministry has proposed a bill to scrap nine of 25 currently effective deferment and exemption categories, and cut army service to 18 months in 2007 and further to one year in 2008, from the current two years.

Currently, young men use four groups of deferments to escape service in Russia's hazing-hit army: educational, social, professional, and medical. Social deferments will be reduced partially, while the number of medical deferments will remain the same. Deferments for students will also be reduced in a bid to get more educated men into the army.

The Defense Ministry is also conducting a campaign to curb corruption, above all at conscription offices, when young men - primarily in large cities - avoid military service for bribes.

The measures, however, have been criticized by many as ineffective and unlikely to dramatically improve Russia's security and combat readiness, given current problems in demography, healthcare, and education.

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