MOSCOW. Sept 24 (Interfax-AVN) - The Russian Federal Drug Control Service is developing a methodology to counter the advertsing of drugs on the Internet, Viktor Ivanov, the service chief, said at a press conference at Interfax.
"We have been curbing and will be curbing such things. New methods of fighting this will be needed," Ivanov said.
The Drug Control Service is examining websites propagating drugs, Ivanov said. "Unfortunately, access to these websites is difficult, because the servers and providers are outside Russia. This is another aspect of our cooperation with our partners abroad," he said.
The Drug Control Service is worried by the fact that certain websites provide recipes for manufacturing drugs and inform the readers about essential components, he said.
The service uncovered 83 facts of propaganda and advertisement of illegal drugs in 2007, which were subjected to administrative punishment, he said. As many as 43 individuals and eight legal entities were fined more than 330,000 rubles in aggregate, he said.
"In the first eight months of this year, 35 facts of illegal advertisement and propaganda of drugs have been uncovered. Sixteen individuals and six legal entities have been held liable," he said.