...AND ANOTHER:
Feb. 07, 2008
Mandatory Drug Testing for Students
Two high-placed officials in the Russian Federal Narcotics Control Service have stated that mandatory drug testing of students will be carried out in “a number of Moscow institutions of higher education” in the autumn of this year. The list of schools has not been released, but the agency made it clear that the main focus will be on those studying for dangerous professions. “Testing isn't needed to expel the students but to catch the disease in its early stages and to monitor drug use among students. It is not a limitation of rights and freedoms but a primary diagnosis,” Federal Narcotics Control Service press chief Alexander Mikhailov told Kommersant.
Moscow is considered Russia's most drug-infested city. According to official statistics, there are 29,000 drug addicts in Moscow's 1.2-million student population. Over 70 percent of them are minors. Marijuana and hashish are especially popular among students.
Bauman Moscow State Technical University is the only school in Moscow that currently systematically tests for drugs. For the last six years, students in the military training department have been tested in the second year of study because they will be working is the missile and aerospace forces. “We have no problem with drug addiction,” stated director of the university's health center Gennady Semigin.
Among the major universities in Moscow, only Peoples' Friendship University of Russia confirmed that it had been informed of the narcotics control service's intentions. PFUR rector Nikolay Chichulin called the plans “a project far from implementation.” Lev Levinson, human rights activist and head of the New Narcotics Policy public organization, said that “The Federal Narcotics Control Service's initiative is unconstitutional and directly violates current legislation,” since only law enforcement agencies and the courts have the authority to require medical examinations. Also, it would violate students' presumption of innocence.
www.kommersant.com
All the Article in Russian as of Feb. 07, 2008
http://www.kommersant.com/p850082/human_rights_drug_testing/
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