In Rostov Region, testing reveals students' drug use

Testing for drug use of students of primary and secondary professional education institutions of the Rostov Region has identified cases of use of banned products among teenagers of the Rostov Region. This was reported on November 16 by Tatiana Bykovskaya, Regional Minister of Health. According to her, the testing identified 37 such teenagers; 3000 teenagers refused to participate in the event.

Let us remind you that the testing was launched on October 1 and is voluntary.

90 percent of teenagers studying at the professional institutions agreed to pass the testing.

"90 percent is a good result. During two months, we tested 22,000 persons, and 6000 persons more should be tested till mid-December," stated Tatiana Bykovskaya at the meeting of the anti-drug commission.

According to her, the facts of drug use were confirmed by tests of 37 people.

The Minister drew attention of the commission to teenagers who refused to undergo the testing. "3000 teenagers who refused to be tested represent a layer we should work with, since the question about the reason of their refusal arises," said the head of the ministry.

Teachers, psychologists and narcologists will care of the teenagers, whose drug tests were positive. This was reported by Elena Malyshko, Chief Doctor of the Narcological Dispensary. She explained that students should give their personal consent to the medical treatment, the RIA "Novosti" reports.

Vasily Golubev, Governor of the Rostov Region, reported that next year senior schoolchildren would be tested. The regional budget allocated 13.5 million roubles to organization of the tests. The Governor has also emphasized that, during the last 2.5 years, the proportion of teenagers, who had never used drugs, has increased by 6 percent, the proportion of non-smokers - by 9 percent, the "Interfax" reports.

Let us note that as effective at July 1, the drug monitoring service of the Rostov Region has reported on 12,916 registered drug users. According to the service, on average in the region, 18 percent of students used drugs at least once. 4 percent of students use drugs regularly. During six months of 2011, crimes involving drug trafficking composed 11.7 percent of the total number of crimes (3198). According to the Rostov Office of the FSKN (Federal Drug Control Service of the Russian Federation), in 2011, the proportion of the so-called "Desomorphine" drug houses composed 90 percent of their total number. Desomorphine is produced of codeine-containing medicines and represents a particular threat. According to medical practitioners, life of such an addict lasts eight months in average.