Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a new version of the law "On Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances". According to her, now the diagnosis of "drug addiction" will be made without a medical examination, at the conclusion of a psychiatrist or psychiatrist-narcologist.
The new version of the law removed the lines that a person is recognized as a drug addict "based on the results of a medical examination conducted in accordance with this Federal Law." Now it is simply enough for him to be diagnosed with drug addiction.
Article 44 of the law, which describes the medical examination, has also been changed. The reason for him earlier, among others, could be the suspicion that the person is "sick with drug addiction." This text has now been removed.
Among the reasons for the examination were "being in a state of drug intoxication" and "the use of a narcotic drug, psychotropic substance or a new dangerous psychoactive substance" without a doctor's prescription.
In November 2022, Elena Sheshko, director of the Department of Medical Care for Children, Obstetrics and Public Health Services of the Ministry of Health of Russia, reported that 388,000 Russians suffer from drug addiction. At the same time, 17.5 thousand people received rehabilitation in 2021.
On April 14, Olga Kachanova, head of the juvenile law enforcement department of the St. Petersburg prosecutor's office, said that every fifth crime committed by teenagers in the city was related to the distribution of drugs.