Can the Russian Government Take a Dose of Reform?

By Sarit Shatken and Vitaly Zhumagaliev

This month, a new Russian federal law will come into effect which reduces penalties for certain drug-related offenses in the criminal code. In its original form, the law could be considered a moderate triumph in the harm reduction community. But the success of this reform effort (passed as Federal Law N 162-FZ by the State Duma in November, 2003) might be short-lived, as one government agency is actively trying to invalidate the reforms and maintain the status quo through administrative regulation.

Harm reductionists have long considered drugs legislation in Russia to be a deadly combination of anachronistic Soviet era policy under the guise of strict compliance with UN drug control treaties. The law makes no distinction between types of involvement in the drug trade, leading to burgeoning prison populations of at-risk individuals and the exclusion of drug users from health care and other services.

Since 2000, groups of lawmakers have been working to soften the Criminal Code’s penalties on drug users. The new legislation differentiates more clearly between personal drug possession and distribution by setting definitions for dosages and quantity of drugs. For example, an individual caught storing, acquiring, or producing less than 10 doses of a drug will be charged with an administrative violation, rather than a criminal violation. The punishment for such an offense is a fine of five to ten times the minimum wage, or 15 nights of administrative arrest. Quantities of a drug in excess of ten doses will be considered “large” and amounts exceeding fifty doses are called “very large,” for which the sentences include imprisonment.

One major problem that has arisen since the law was passed is that it is the State Drug Control Committee (SDCC)—not the law itself—which determines the size of an individual dose. Initial SDCC recommendations were so low as to in effect nullify any softening of penalties in the law. According to the SDCC a single dose of heroin is 0.0001 of a gram. This amount, depending on the purity of the drug, would be hundreds of times smaller than a typical dose in someone who was moderately dependent on heroin. Factors such as body weight, tolerance, and drug purity which cause variations in an individual’s personal dose size are also ignored by the law.

A group of experts is now gathering support from the Russian Ministry of Justice and the Commissioner of Human Rights to repeal the recommendations and to impose more accurate dosages. As a result of the controversy, the government has postponed its decision on the dosages until mid-May, giving reformers the chance to step up lobbying efforts. Circumventing the SDCC is still a considerable feat, but the postponement is regarded as good sign.

Russia’s low-tolerance stance against drug users has had the unintended consequence of stimulating the spread of AIDS and attracting international disapproval of the country’s treatment of prisoners, who face harsh conditions and poor access to healthcare or disease prevention. Prison-based HIV-testing is rare, overpopulation common, and equipment that could diminish the risks of injection is contraband. Though a major amnesty in 1999 cut the prison population by one-third, many still bemoan the high cost of punishment in the budget. Cases brought before the European Court have found conditions in Russian prisons in violation of the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms. The new drug law has the potential to reduce the number of drug users sentenced to long periods in this environment, but setting drug dosage levels too low will ultimately change little in the number and type of convictions.

There are, however, other positive developments in the law. One reform that will remain intact regardless of dosage changes is that drug users will no longer be sentenced to compulsory treatment by the courts on the basis of blood tests. Such tests do not identify addiction, but rather the presence of a drug in the bloodstream. With the reforms, a medical board will determine if treatment is necessary, which will hopefully facilitate more careful, individualized management.

The law also officially legalizes the work of harm reduction programs, and allows for the distribution of drug-related information and equipment by these programs. Earlier versions of the law enabled conservative opponents to construe safer injecting information as “drug propaganda.” While no harm reduction programs were ever punished due to the lack of this distinction, the official nod is still appreciated.

Injection drug users are still far from safe from contracting HIV/AIDS. Inside prison or out, they remain the most at-risk group in the region. Some members of the government are beginning to acknowledge the futility and danger of harsh punishments for drug users. Only in May will it be possible to know if views are shifting enough to make a real difference.

For more information, see IHRD's report Unintended Consequences: Drug Policies Fuel the HIV Epidemic in Russia and Ukraine.

Sarit Shatken is an intern with OSI's International Harm Reduction Development Program (IHRD), and Vitaly Zhumagaliev is IHRD's advocacy coordinator in Russia.