Moscow, June 1 (IANS/RIA Novosti) Moscow has seen a sharp increase in deaths related to drug overdoses in the last four years, health care officials have said.
“The death rate from drug overdoses has risen by more than five times, while poisoning from psychotropic drugs rose 85 percent, from illicit drugs by 68 percent and from alcohol and its surrogates by 44 percent,” a report released Monday said.

Over 112,000 patients are registered in the capital’s drug clinics, including 29,614 drug addicts, according to statistics by Moscow’s Health Care Department.

Health officials, however, say that the real number surpasses the official data by almost seven times because many drug users hide their addiction from authorities.

Russia has been seriously affected by the production of opium-related drugs in neighbouring Afghanistan. An estimated 90 percent of heroin consumed in Russia is trafficked from Afghanistan via Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.

Afghan opium causes the deaths of around 100,000 people around the world annually. In Russia alone, Afghan heroin kills around 30,000 people each year, the Federal Drug Control Service said.

–IANS/RIA Novosti

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