MOSCOW, November 9 (RIA Novosti) - About 80,000 drug-related deaths are registered annually in Russia, Alexander Yanevsky of the Federal Drugs Control Service said on Friday.

"Some 70,000 Russians die of drug-related diseases and another 10,000 from overdoses," he said.

A total of 350,000 drug addicts were registered in the country at the end of 2006, and some six million Russians have reportedly used drugs. Some 70% of those people who admitted to drug use are under the age of 30.

"Russia is in the 'drug belt' - it receives heroin from the south and synthetic drugs from the west. In addition, drug production within the country is also on the rise," Yanevsky said, adding that this threat could be eliminated only through preventive and educational measures.