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Officially drugs kill 8,000 Russians yearly, unofficially 70,000

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Eight thousand deaths were registered from illegal drug use in Russia last year, but unofficial estimates suggest total drug-related fatalities may be as high as 70,000 per year, the government's narcotics watchdog said Tuesday.
MOSCOW, November 14 (RIA Novosti) - Eight thousand deaths were registered from illegal drug use in Russia last year, but unofficial estimates suggest total drug-related fatalities may be as high as 70,000 per year, the government's narcotics watchdog said Tuesday.

"About 70,000 people die of narcotics annually, according to unofficial data. Officially, we lost 8,000 people [to drugs] in 2005," said Alexander Mikhailov, head of the information department at the Federal Drug Control Service.

Speaking at a national HIV conference, Mikhailov said that as many as 60% of the country's registered HIV carriers had contracted the virus through intravenous drug use.

The official said there are currently 243,000 registered drug addicts in the country, and that in the past three years their number has been growing by only 0.5% per year, compared with 20-30% over the past decade.

However, he said huge volumes of illegal drugs continue to arrive in Russia from Afghanistan, the world's largest producer of opium, most of which is smuggled in through Russia's ex-Soviet neighbor Tajikistan.

Mikhailov said the spread of drug abuse could be contained by promoting a drug-free subculture among young people, and suggested that college and university applicants should undergo drug tests before being admitted.

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