CHERKESOV OFFERS HARD FACTS ON RUSSIA'S DRUG SCENE

MOSCOW, There exists within Russia itself a significant base for the production
of illegal narcotics. As reported by Rosbalt, Viktor Cherkesov spoke on this
today at the first general meeting of the State Committee to Control the Use of
Narcotic and Psychotropic Substances, which he heads.

Citing the views of specialists, he said marijuana currently grows wild on 1
million hectares of Russian land. Moreover, he said, a second native source of
raw material for drug production has increased in recent years: because of
their poverty, greater numbers of people are cultivating marijuana and poppies
on their private plots. Cherkesov said this raw material was then going out to
the biggest cities of Russia and even to other countries.

Over the past 10 years, the committee head emphasized, the annual rate of
drug-related crime is up 15 times, incidents of drug dealing is up 80 times,
and incidents of criminal drug organizations are up 9 times. At the same time,
Cherkesov said, the increase of drug smuggling into Russia from abroad
represents an even more serious problem. If 15 years ago the proportion of
smuggled drugs constituted 20%-30% of the overall trade in Russia, today it
amounts to more than half of all illegal drugs sold here. And foreign sources
supply almost 100% of the most serious drugs, including heroin and
amphetamines, Cherkesov said.