TEXT 14. The War on Drugs: A Losing Battle?

The government has approved a new program to fight illegal drugs, but there seems to be little chance for success

Meanwhile, according to the Federal Drug Control Service (FDCS), there are about 500,000 registered drug users in Russia 343,000 of whom are officially listed as drug addicts. This, however, is only the tip of the iceberg since the actual number of drug users is put at 6 million, including 2 million under the age of 24. The new program sets the task of reducing by 2010 the scale of drug consumption by 16 percent to 20 percent of the 2004 level.

That is to say, in the best-case scenario, we will have 4.8 million drug users in five years. Meanwhile, according to FDCS Chairman Col.Gen. Viktor Cherkesov, for example, "drug trafficking from Afghanistan shows steady growth."

In all, about 130 tonnes of narcotic substances were seized last year. All of this shows, in Viktor Cherkesov's expression, that Russia "has made a breakthrough in the war on drugs." He also cites growing drug prices as evidence of the successful performance by his service: Narcotic substances have apparently become less easily available on the market.

Viktor Cherkesov admits, however, that not all of his service staff have lived up to expectations: Some officials have shown themselves "incapable of producing real results, not just window dressing." As a result, heads of 10 FDCS regional divisions and 29 of their deputies were dismissed in 2004, while six officials were prosecuted for involvement in drug trafficking.

On the other hand, the general complains that "judicial practice is poorly adapted to the present situation" and that "the aggressiveness and re-sourcefulness demonstrated by drug dealers is sometimes ill-matched by the lenience of courts that deliver suspended sentences in well documented drug trafficking cases."

One such "well documented" case, according to Viktor Cherkesov, is the "ketamine case" wherein veterinarians using ketamine, an anesthetic that was included on a list of illegal substances, began to be prosecuted. At the same time Gen. Cherkesov's service persistently ignored the fact that ketamine's inclusion on the list of narcotics was illegal. That, however, did not stop the FDCS from initiating some two dozen criminal cases with two guilty verdicts delivered - for veterinarians Aleksandr Duka and Olga Tanaeva.

The anti-drug service earned even greater notoriety with its ban on growing more than two Peyote (lophophora Williams) cactuses. Such a cactus can be used to produce a narcotic drug but at a cost of 1,800 euros per hit (this cactus is a very expensive plant).

Yet it is not only veterinarians and cactus growers who will now have to live in fear. Gen. Cherkesov proposes compulsory drug testing for drivers, air traffic controllers, doctors, teachers, and other professions. He does not regard this as a violation of citizens' rights, saying: "I do not see anything wrong about such tests being conducted in the interest of the community as a whole."

The FDCS spares no effort to promote its dangerous service, i particular by launching a publication called Narkomat. The magazine provides visual agitation with optimistic, life-asserting slogans, e.g., "Let us wipe out the evil of drugs and not allow shame to be brought on the Russian land." When Viktor Cherkesov took up the position of FDCS chairman in 2003, no one expected him to score any spectacular successes in fighting this evil. The expectations were justified. All that money and nothing to show for it.

Aleksei Nadezhdin, cand.sc. (med.), head of the juvenile drug addiction department at the rf health ministry's national drug addiction research center:

The most terrible thing about drug addiction is that it destroys individual freedom. One injection can be enough for a person never to return to a normal life.

A person stops belonging to himself. He becomes dependent on chemical substances. He needs them more than bread and the air he breathes. This is the worst possible form of slavery that mankind has ever known. A substance dependant person differs little from a lab rat that is fed on morphine.

Ecstasy, an extremely potent "club drug," begins to destroy serotonergic neurons of the brain almost immediately, after a second use. This brings on a deep and prolonged depression, leading to panic attacks, and it is extremely difficult to help a person with such disturbances.

After three or four months of smoking marijuana, users of this "light" drug begin to lose their will power and memory, eventually slipping into a chronic state of depression. This state can last for the rest of a person's life.

Amphetamine dependence is growing rapidly. Drugs of this group are also extremely dangerous since they can cause such complications as strokes and heart attacks.

A person starting on injection drugs must know that one in four users is bound to contract AIDS - what with a shared container where a drug is prepared and a shared syringe. This also ensures a lover of the Russian roulette a 100-percent guarantee of getting viral Hepatitis C.

Prof. Vladimir Khavinson is a respected authority on one of the most speculative fields of knowledge - anti-aging science. He almost never advertises the achievements by the St. Petersburg Institute of Bioregulation and Gerontology which he heads although he has six registered medications to his credit. But he is well-known among the directors of practically all major centers studying the processes of aging worldwide. For over 30 years Khavinson has been studying the impact of peptides on human organism and is convinced that they can effectively prolong human life by at least 30 percent. These studies are the core of a new RAS program.

The impression is that longevity has emerged from a subject of philosophical discussion into a fashionable game that is played by both downright charlatans and professional scientists. How can a person tell real achievements from sheer speculation?

You are offered a new drug that is touted as an anti-aging prescription. Its chemical formula is at odds with the promotional material. It turns out that the drug is certified, for example, as an immunity enhancing compound. This is what was proven in the course of clinical trials. The rest is pure fantasy.

Gerontology is based on experiments with different types of animals since this is the only way to demonstrate a net effect: for instance, by how much (in percentage form) this drug extended the life span of flies or mice. Such experiments are almost never conducted. Several years ago, Prof. Vladimir Anisimov, president of the RAS Gerontology Society, and I visited some of the world's leading research centers to assess the state of the art and the stage that we are at in this hierarchy. We were struck by the absence of reliable data at many centers. One European clinic used a certain prescription made from sheep liver. I asked them: "Where is the proof - experiments on animals, verification, statistics, etc.?" There was none. Their only argument was: Patients are taking it, and it makes them feel better.

We also visited the famous Ana Aslan Institute of Gerontology and Geriatrics in Romania that was founded way back under Ceausescu and where Mao Zedong and many other Communist leaders were treated. They actively used a Novocain-based medication - Gerovital. Again, we were interested in experimental data and asked to be shown the vivarium where animal experiments were conducted. This should be specially equipped premises where mice could be kept for three years (actually they live for two years, but certain substances can prolong their life span by another year). We were brought into a cramped room without air conditioning where animals could not possibly live for very long. There are just a handful of vivaria in Russia, but they are also few in the rest of the world.

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