Russia needs to boost spending on drug addiction treatment as non-state organizations are unable to cope and often operate on the edge of the law, a member of the State Duma committee on health care said on Friday.
"I believe in the good intentions of the charities, but they discredit the very idea of drug treatment and often operate on the edge of legality and violate the law," lawmaker Oleg Kulikov said.
The issue of the sometimes radical methods employed by non-state organizations came to the fore last fall when Yegor Bychkov, the director of an anti-narcotics clinic in the Urals, was sentenced to three years in prison for using "forceful methods" when treating his patients, including restraining them to their beds. His sentence was later reduced to a suspended one.
"We need to strengthen the state anti-narcotics service, and take action for the social adaptation of addicts," Kulikov said. "[We] need a serious medical supply, a hospital. [We] need a state anti-narcotics program. This means big spending, but this is not included in the budget."
Most drug addicts slip back into dependency after undergoing treatment in Russia's clinics, according to statistics. Around 30,000 Russians die from drug abuse every year.
MOSCOW, March 4 (RIA Novosti)
