since two thousand and one of. the main supply route from afghanistan to europe russia has more drug. this is now considered to be a major threat to national security the head of the russian federal drug control service. the head of the russian federal drug control

service straight after his graduation she served in the so if it says in one thousand nine hundred seventy seven he began the state security organizations starting as an operative and eventually she was promoted to deputy director of the federal security service through. the administration of the russian president and to the russian president in two thousand and eight he became the head of the russian federal drug control service during one of his recent news conferences he said that there are more than twenty four thousand registered. but the actual number could be ten times higher. up to two point five million russians a drug. addicted to heroin. what is being done in order to tackle those numbers.

mr raven often thank you very much for coming to our program. first of all how would you explain such a significant growth of drug production in afghanistan when did it begin during the american invasion or perhaps even the soviet one because i'd say it began after the soviet spirit after the soviet period. after the soviet troops will start to post again a stand it was one government after another first there was the government often should belong but then there was a new robot need to show that you know the taliban's came as witnesses and old those changes were violent which you. and it was this military and political tension that prompted some poppy cultivation. but is also in fact history shows that drug production usually follows military and political tensions. but is almost. well you personally participated in the military actions in afghanistan in the eighty's and can compare the soviet methods with today's

american methods. more effective do you think it's. frankly i didn't participate in the military actions directly but you could observe them right. i was an h.r. advisor but i certainly had an opportunity to see the way we have gained. the way in the quest for military operations and military achievements. i would make a distinction here because the u.s. and nato led international security assistance force. as a mandate of the u.n. security council. as of the war on terror. the often say today that this is no longer a war against terrorists so unfortunately we do more and more becomes a war against insurgents.

actually soviet troops were also blamed for this fighting insurgents rather than establishing order yes there were such meetings today. in your opinion what is the most efficient way of fighting drugs. say in a. plain physical eradication the reason i'm asking is because i recall that monsoonal brainiac. with the head of security forces in a big region and he said it's impossible to do away with drugs of people cultivate them it's impossible practically. as soon as the communist rule was over and free market and became a new reality right away the pharmacy poppy everywhere if we cut down their poppy their families would die so there's nothing we can do for them is the situation similar in afghanistan. you know there are many many of the illegal drug

trade on the one and. non-medical use of drugs on the other but is it that i should easier to fix so loosing things that only good that it's necessary to reduce the amount of publicity drugs on the market and at the same time the demand for drugs should also be diminished among the population. in these approaches have more recorded in three so-called anti-drug conventions to adopted by the us. one of the priorities in this struggle is already crops which can be used for production but. as a matter of fact this political priority was set at the un general assembly session in one thousand nine hundred ninety eight somebody said and it was confirmed in two thousand and nine when the general assembly had been considering the word the un commission on narcotic drugs. unfortunately afghanistan is extremely ineffective in eradication of crops used for drug production and there are no

results there. less than three per cent of the drug czar destroyed. compare this with colombia where both seventy percent of drug plantations are destroyed annually you see the fact totally different social. well in fact russia is not only a transit zone for droughts in recent years russia has become the largest market for afghan heroin spotlight's me there were reports. again this is the. producer and ninety two percent of global opium poppy is cultivated here his market is very good at sixty five billion dollars involved fifty million addicts which one hundred thousand die each year. apiece to be haunted by the florida afghan drop trade couldn't to the federal drug control service one hundred

and eighty have been drug cartels have been busy trafficking opiates to the russian federation trapped control of missions point out that most of the truck business is done and they have been provinces that are under the control of coalition forces and therefore in this zone over sponsibility in the since the u.s. led incursion began a stand has seen a sharp increase in the call to variation the drug has spread through neighboring to dawn and other central asian countries making neighboring russia particularly vulnerable according to a last year's un report no worse than seventy tons of heroin were trafficked to russia in two thousand and eight that's three times more than to the u.s. and canada together the smuggling of opiates has been few and diction then drug use alone trafficking routes over the last one particular truck addicts in russia skyrocketed to unfold and now claims up to forty thousand lives only.

if you just said afghans are very slack in fighting against poppy plantations and it's hardly possible to eradicate much poppy using just such week as we've just seen. but here's another thing those farmers from all feel sorry for they're not drug dealers but they just provide for their families because pop is the most profitable cropped up and they sell it very cheap to those who produce drugs why don't promise you to go companies buy it from them for as they are absolutely right about the fire. because they still drugs for making profits. in southern afghanistan and that's where clashes take place and it's no accident here things look a problem in so helmand which produces sixty five percent hill who's the world's aussie it has always been the richest province the richest formers live in helmand

it but it could climatic conditions near theory because they have the helmand river and there is a wonderful system of irrigation that is in other words they were needed money they were then wealthiest people and today this province has more drugs than any other place so the financial factor the need to make a living is not the key here. but probably they became even richer when they started to cultivate poppy. they switched to poppy right but instead of getting richer they became poor deformities who grew up in the economy pushing my seem very little money by the way to prosper off dropped last year it was ninety dollars in two thousand and eight and this year it cost sixty dollars if you mean are all yes wrong while the price for herring has tripled in afghanistan does you understand that the main beneficiaries here are not formers but. no not producers

dealers the right is special to those who deal with wholesale trade trafficking dealers that if you know what to do so still i'd like to repeat my question which is why doesn't government buy this raw opium from pharma as. well the video we just saw says if again it's ten producers and sixty five billion dollars worth of drugs what the former see it is nearly three hundred to three hundred in a fifty million dollars set that the taliban is set to participate as well. participates only two or men organize a resistance to foreign troops. to the u.s. senate to meeting on foreign relations the taliban earn seventy two one hundred fifty million dollars which is nearly zero point two percent of the overall drug production. so the corrupt afghan government is running this business that the afghan government is corrupt and it's not use for anybody by the way at the london

conference in afghanistan it was said the level of corruption is extremely high and this country so this means they are involved in drug production. this means some government officials are involved in drug production as. we've asked during american colleagues to provide us with information on those who are involved in this process both government officials and those who finance this illicit activity and profit from it is a. huge so what do the americans say. unfortunately we haven't heard from them yet by the way visited to washington in september and i met with gil can only call it was a high ranking official in the us administration i give him a list of drug brands which are available in russia one hundred and seventy five brands and this means to around one hundred and seventy five of the border tori's in afghanistan producing drugs for russia with. tens of ghana stance of i'm going to start it out what about u.s. troops fighting against evil in afghanistan. and despite. its obvious that

insurgency is evil no matter how you call it the right time but what about drugs law are they evil to. keep the why don't americans fight against drugs well. i believe illicit drug production is absolutely if you will and the entire international community has agreed with it what that considering the amount of drugs produced their problem has gone beyond of ganesan long time ago and that of course there are drug. why the three major. countries. he said it's russia europe is another big consumer off. supply of the balkans. to us he comes by the northern route why is the country so central asia and the southern route. and pakistan's. gold all across the world by seas

says he's head of the russian federal drug control spotlight will do that shortly will continue this interview in less than a minute stay with us. for . every month we give you the future we help you understand how to get there and to bring the best in science and technology from across russia and around the world. join us technology update on our g.

one of the key elements of democracy which is so uncomfortable for me i thought. who pays for the news. how dependent does this independent media. and who is behind the t.v. story. charge and media fiction and reality. welcome back to spotlight i'm just a reminder that my guest today is he head of the russian federal drug control service. mr the northwood began talking about combating a drug trafficking from afghanistan both to europe and russia what i see in afghanistan itself some of the who do you count on it for some help it's in the

cuckoo pool in this matter and from the americans and their allies who are fighting to evoke of the afghan government that is highly corrupted as you well know and say . look at that a cool or is there no one you can count on there that i should. we count on setting up a wide anti-drug coalition. if that was used isn't there one today is going out that is my views our efforts are not coordinated and the steps taken to really cute drug production of guinea soon are insufficient. let me clarify this but first of all the international community and the united nations in the first place should consolidate its efforts and acknowledge disgraceful phenomena which it is if ganesh then produces twice as more then the whole world did it decade ago but

he's avoided this phenomenon to be classified as a threat to world peace and security. this is not the competence of the un general assembly and this is the competence of the un security council unfortunately so far there has been only discussion no common stance has been worked out and when it is worked out an irrelevant resolution is adopted this will be a major step towards eliminating drugs production in afghanistan secondly the world community including the u.n. security council issued and a mandate for the international security and stability and assistance force once the military can be there in a state that has become a drug manufacturer basically no stability a total of course more than that so in our view it's things with the u.n. mandate that have taken up responsibility for afghanistan's future should take care

of that when you start off so it will end the mandate should include iraq war meant that the military force is used to destroy drug production. companies and thirdly at the federal the fish and seal of the international programs and standing in competition with drug threats the implementation of these progress is the answer to better security which is transparent control those of the international community but is that if you put us but for example mr richard holbrooke says the destroying poppy fields is to expand when. and inefficient at the mall well there is no way you can be efficient if you are using methods that are clearly inefficient and you should see it in the middle like using a twig yes there are some very efficient methods like now. as you can see nothing much can be accomplished with a tweak as for not home it's something i would hardly recommend of course however

we curd besides our spurred by helicopters and aircraft to destroy plantations in columbia. the same way you destroy we. use a substance called life for say it incidentally many for misuse is to eliminate weeds thomas thomas wife a top official of the u.s. department of state who was in charge of trafficking becomes in our politics program for ghana's ten he's now retired says he's appointed would grind to have lunch with his fingers before spring it on the weeds it's good this substance is not that harmful but it can be very efficient in eliminating plantations the thing that. i see the point of the debate see mr ivanov which let's now talk about drugs in russia. as far as i know drug consumption is on the rise in russia. despite the outstanding measures being taken but it should what causes that demand

to supply other afghan producers and dealers to blame or this is the situation in no country that generates the demand. much more luck turn more first that the number of drug abusers has not been grown actually. the actual number of people but yes the number of drug consumers practically stabilized in two thousand or two thousand and one do it there are two that sawing the growth was basically exponential. with about the go through of course send its head in every year well torrington still the current levels on acceptably. the high but the most because it's too many people who are english to enjoy the muse look up at the us that's the first point then there's another thing the composition of drug consumption in russia. brigley from that in europe or in the united states.

but the difference is that ninety percent of all former drug addicted patients use opulence from of gamma stand heroin first of all and according to the world health organization erin you see most. reparation that causes severe addiction pathological different mission of the personality which invariably leads to death in five or seven years. in other words russians same as with alcohol prefer strong things. yes we should admit but sharing consumption in our country is huge for which there are two major causes first there is an external factor of afghanistan being a neighboring country producing an immense amount of narcotics but what you call one hundred in seventy five. doses and the year. we say you think the most important factor is important even main thing is there is supply right. you cannot

produce heroin in russia as it's climatic conditions are not suitable why is your agency against a methadone treatment which has been adopted in many countries and proved effective russia has categorically against it why. i would question your last statement that it proved effective and there have been no confirmed clinical scientific tests but what's more methadone addiction use more severe incidentally heroin intoxication is relieved in force in d.c. cloris methadone intoxication lists forty five days. so it just said there have been new clinical tests. but they're not sure which but then why is methadone used in many countries to treat drug addicts. there is such a therapy what is it based on so well it's a new us they have no federal regulation about this. well it varies from state to

state right yes it varies from state to state as a matter of fact it's an experiment you know russia we to conduct experiments on however our consolidated position is that methadone therapy is inefficient russia i'm sorry i just wanted to say that ukraine belarus and the baltic states approved the use of methadone treatment our colleagues from these countries say the situation there changed for the worse in the number of drug addicts has grown. russia is known for its tough measures when it comes to them. there is much talk about plans to introduce a compulsive treatment of drug addiction as it used to be back in the soviet times . it is also said that compulsive medical examination will be introduced to for instance of students is that true are you preparing such measures and you know it's not true by the way speaking of tough measures against narcotic trunks.

kind in terms of the toughness and systemic character of measures taken against illegal drug trade but which is a quantum about all the records of quality behind who. you're open in the united states. in school in the united states has this school act and anyone who sells something cool sir than three hundred feet or so from school are subject to bigger responsibility the two or three fault even if you mean so the drugs. not necessarily to children just as long as there's still something there russian law serious responsibility stuart's if. it was aware what he was going to sell obviously all the suspects say they were not aware yes we're compulsive treatment and as a head of the agency i can assure you with my full responsibility that we have no such plans it's got it it will what's your recent campaign against spices. or herbal smoking bland's caused quite

a stir recently why did you choose to pay such an attention to them. well i have to admit it was not our campaign but i mean it is a complete was not launched by the federal drug control service we are trying to work with the public so channel to stage a new campaign but in reported about this problem rooted in our society probably spices appeared in our markets no longer and became popular its very quickly our legislation fail to quickly adapt itself and by listing horrible smoking blends among narcotic substances however now this decision has been made in these you may notice on december thirty first governmental decree was adopted banning us that they are selling off its herbal smoke and blends under the threat of prime and prosecution it would put it. this essentially you're responding to the situation yes you know i must see our thank you to the public journalists where there are

having drawn attention to the problem which eventually helped prompt passing of the bills letters quote thank you very much i can only hope you respond promptly to problems in the future because it's common knowledge that swindlers are often faster in their trades than those who combat them which would defeat them thanks to our systemic approach and political will thank you very much for being with us and just to remind you that my guest here in the studio today was the head of the russian federal drug control center and that's it for the after of all of us here who will be back with more face time comments on what's going on and. outside russia. stay on and take care.

if.

headlines from all season is that the death toll from russian wildfires reaches forty eight with people advised to stay indoors as a blanket of choking smoke covers temperatures are expected to rise even more as a record breaking heat wave shows no sign of ending. the five hundred fires have been registered across the country while i have been coming in from countries to help the crisis meanwhile president medvedev has five five five ryan congressional officials following for preventive action. and in other news the u.s. and opposes move new sanctions on iran severing ties with voters suspected of terrorist links as a group of intelligence experts write to president obama saying that israel may strike against tehran within weeks islamic republic has also denied reports of an assassination attempt on president mahmoud ahmadinejad. so for more on that and

other u.s. stories it's that next from our washington studio. good evening welcome to the alone a show where you get the real headlines with none of the mersey were coming live out of washington d.c. laura lister filling in for alone today we're going to ask what would happen if the u.s. waged war on iran what it teligent group claims israel could attack iran pretty much any minute we'll talk with one of those intelligence members to find out how they came to this startling conclusion next we'll take you to a health clinic taking place in d.c. today people showed up in on precedented numbers all for the opportunity to see a doctor so we're going to find out why these clinics which americans used to bring to other developing countries are increasingly in demand here at home and.