Social Co-ordinates of the Use of and Experimentation with Drugs Among Young People in the European Part of Russia--The Example of Tatarstan (From Organised Crime, Trafficking, Drugs: Selected Papers Presented at the Annual Conference of the European Society of Criminology, Helsinki 2003, P 81-86, 2

• NCJ Number: 207795
• Author(s): Yuri Komlev
• Date Published: 2004
• Length: 6 pages
• Corporate Author: United Nations European Institute for Crime Prevention and Control (HEUNI)
• Sale Source: Criminal Justice Press/Willow Tree Press; Academic Bookstore
• Publication Format: Book (Softbound)
• Publication Type: Research (Applied/Empirical)
• Language: English
• Country: Finland

Annotation

This paper assesses the social coordinates of the use of drugs among young people in central Russia through an examination of data results from research in the Russian region of Tatarstan.

Abstract

The use of illegal drugs by Russian youth has become a relatively widespread and statistically stable trend. The social coordinates of the use and experimentation of drugs among young people in the European part of Russia is assessed by the results of research carried out in the region Tatarstan. An interview method was utilized in 2002 to study the use and experimentation with narcotic substances among young people. The study showed the level of drug experiences among young people between the ages of 14 to 29 to be 25.6 percent. This paper describes and compares levels, degrees of activity, and other social parameters of the use of and experimentation with narcotic substances among young people in Tatarstan which is typical of other areas of Russia. The research allowed the description of the main social coordinates of the phenomenon typical of central Russia. The results of the research indicate that actual drug usage is approximately 11 times more common than what official statistics indicate. In conclusion, the use of and experimentation with narcotic substances spreads rather quickly but irregularly in the youth environment.