Indopedia All Things Marijuana
At the same time as many countries around the world are looking to decriminalize illegal drugs and mitigate the effects of drug prohibition on their countries’ residents, the majority of Russians support re-criminalizing illegal drug use, according to a new poll. In a recent survey conducted by Russia’s government-controlled polling agency, VTSIOM, 78 percent of respondents said they were in favor of bringing back criminal penalties for illegal drug use.
Ninety-three percent of the respondents said they did not want to see any illegal drugs being traded. Only 6 percent of respondents supported legalization of cannabis or other “soft” drugs. Forty-three percent of the respondents said they consider drug addiction an illness than can and should be cured, but 28 percent said that all addicts are dangerous and should be locked away in isolation.
Illegal drug use and low-level possession are currently considered civil violations in Russia, punishable by fines or arrests of up to 15 days. However, drug production and trafficking crimes are still punished with long prison terms. The head of the Information and Statistics Directorate of the Prosecutor General’s Office…
