MOSCOW. May 25 (Interfax) - The liberalization of drug laws in certain countries erodes existent controls on drugs and increases the number of drug abuse accidents, the head of the Russian Interior Ministry's Main Drug Control Department, Ivan Gorbunov, said.
"The growing trend towards eroding the existing system for controlling drugs and calls for legalizing the non-medicinal use of synthetic substances cause concern. [...] Countries which have allowed non-medicinal use of cannabis or have legalized it jeopardize the universal implementation of core conventions on international drug control, and substitute the consistent fight against the drug trade with dubious human rights subjects," Gorbunov said at a roundtable of the 11th international meeting of high-ranking security officials.
"Despite the universal nature of three thematic conventions, a number of countries are trying to elaborate their own, alternate strategies, while imitating the protection of society from the threat of drugs," he said.
"Oddly, the negative consequences of such legalization do not stop such countries from trying to observe the alleged rights of drug addicts," Gorbunov said.
He referred to the research of international organizations and independent foreign expert communities, which indicate "an increased use of cannabis by the younger generation in the countries which violate the conventions, leading to a larger number of mental disorders, suicides and hospitalizations."
"Given the disturbing trends in the global drug situation, we believe it's important to focus on countering the rising trend towards drug liberalization, including the creation of an adequate international barrier to the erosion of the coordination mechanism," Gorbunov said.
He mentioned such major global threats from drugs as the growing production and distribution of synthetic drugs and new psychoactive substances, the shift of drug distribution to online platforms, and the use of digital and financial instruments for money laundering.
"The old global drug threats, among them opium poppy cultivation in Afghanistan and coca cultivation in Latin America, remain in place. Moreover, the production of synthetic drugs, primarily mephedrone, has added to the large-scale production of opiates and cannabis-type drugs in Afghanistan," Gorbunov said.