Poll Shows Most Russians Consider Dug Abuse As Top Problem
An Associated Press-GfK poll recently released shows that 87 percent of Russians consider drug abuse as at least a “very serious” problem in Russia; 55 percent see the problem as “extremely serious.”
According to government statistics, there are about 2.5 million Russians addicted to drugs, and 90 percent of them use heroin. Russia is considered as the world’s largest consumer of heroin.
The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime reveal that Russia has a population of 143 million and uses 70 tons of Afghan heroin every year. Heroin was also found to kill 80 Russians each day or 30,000 each year.
Russia’s anti-drug czar Viktor Ivanov said that heroin is “as easy to buy as a Snickers” chocolate bar. Valery, a former heroin addict, can only say: “The only thing the government can do is save the new generation, because we cannot be saved,” referring to the Russian generation lost to heroin abuse. Most of the nation’s drug addicts belong to the 18-39 age range.
The AP-GfK poll, by GfK Roper Public Affairs and Corporate Communications, was based on interviews with 1,675 randomly selected adults nationwide from May 25 to June 10. Margin of error is at 2.9 percentage points.
