Trends in the prevalence ofpsychoactive substance use inthe Russian Federation

Between 1991 and 2000, the number of drug addicts in the Russian Federation increased tenfold and the number of people abusing narcotic drugs increased by a factor of 6.4. According to the resulting indicator, the number increased by a factor of 7.7 as the population of the country fell by 2 per cent during that period. The prevalence of drug addiction among women is rapidly increasing. Between 1993 and 2000, the number of women drug addicts rose by a factor of 12.6. Adolescents are still the social group exhibiting the most prevalent use of and dependency on narcotics and other psychoactive substances. Over the past decade, not only has there been a quantitative (seventeenfold) increase in the prevalence of drug use among adolescents, but there has also been a qualitative change: the number of adolescents using drugs has grown and the proportion with an established dependency on drugs has increased. The number of adolescents seeking treatment for the first time is almost twice as high as the equivalent figure for the population as a whole (84.5 per 100,000 adolescents compared to 50.6 per 100,000 of the population as a whole). Research conducted in cities in the Russian Federation has shown that there is a clear upward trend, demonstrated by both direct and indirect indicators, in the prevalence of narcotics use in all of them. The situation requires urgent action because the incidence of hepatitis and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection among users is growing and the proportion of intravenous drug users is increasing.