Russia's Drug Addiction

Russia is begging America to destroy the poppy fields in Afghanistan. The epidemic of heroin addiction in Russia threatens the very existence of the country. There are more than two million drug addicts in Russia today, that's about one addict to every 50 Russians of working age - a level eight times higher than in EU countries. Ninety per cent of the heroin comes from Afghanistan.

Russia's critics say that the government's policy on drugs is responsible for the worsening epidemic. The goal is not to help people suffering with addiction but to identify them and then punish them. No country in the world has ever been able to deal with its drug problems in this way. An addict who seeks medical help is immediately put on a state register and this information is available to police who can arrest them. They deliberately ignore the best available medical evidence and recommendation on how to treat drug addicts.

Methadone is banned in Russia and needle and syringe exchange points are regarded as highly controversial and drug users hide away from everyone, they worry that if they go and get clean needles and syringes, they will be arrested and sent to prison. This drives epidemics of hepatitis C and HIV/Aids and there are now more than one million people HIV positive.

So why is Afghanistan the biggest supplier of heroin in the world? "We don't trample on the livelihood of those we're trying to win over" is America's response, that is their reason why they guard the poppy crop. Surely something is going on here that we are not being told about, this goes against everything we believe in, it's immoral and disgusting.