Russian drug addicts sentenced to compulsory rehabilitation evade execution of court decisions in every possible way. The search for and punishment of such “evaders” is becoming an increasingly important task for law enforcement agencies. Details of the problem and ways to solve it are in the Izvestia article.
News about sanctions against people who evade compulsory treatment is increasingly appearing in the country’s media. So, a resident of the Tula region went under arrest for 10 days for such an offense. In September 2021, the court ordered her to undergo treatment and anti-drug rehabilitation. As part of the latest proceedings, the magistrate of precinct No. 32 in Novomoskovsk installedthat since November, the woman has ignored the duties assigned to her by the court. This is not the first court decision of its kind, but the practice began to take shape only recently.
– It cannot be said that many are brought to administrative responsibility for evasion, but case in the Tula region shows that the state shows the will to greater control over the treatment of drug addicted offenders, Margarita Kurashina, a member of the Russian Bar Association, told Izvestia.
Who is being treated
About who and under what circumstances are most often forced to be treated for drug addiction through the courts, Izvestia was told by a source in the anti-drug division of the police.
– When we apprehend a drug addict after buying through a bookmark, the weight of the drug is not always sufficient for criminal liability for illegal possession. But this does not mean that the violator is released on all four sides. A protocol is drawn up under Art. 6.9.1 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation, a drug addict comes to court, which imposes a punishment in the form of either a fine or administrative arrest. At the same time, the court sends the violator to the drug dispensary for diagnosis. If dependence is detected, a person is required to undergo treatment and rehabilitation. There are special centers, including free ones, where a person receives the necessary assistance. But not everyone wants to be treated.
Plant and heal
Not so long ago, as an optional measure, the courts began to use compulsory treatment for drug addiction and alcoholism. Such treatment is provided for by Art. 72.1 and 73 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.
– The court may impose on a person, taking into account his age, ability to work and state of health, the obligation to undergo a course of treatment for drug addiction. We are talking about treatment, as well as medical and social rehabilitation. The same goes for probation. As follows from the content of the article, such compulsory treatment — this is an additional criminal measure that can be ordered by the court, Kurashina explains.
A prerequisite for the appointment of such an additional measure is the fact that a person has a drug addiction. It can only be established by an examination carried out in the proper manner. It is often carried out even at the preliminary investigation stage, if the police become aware of the facts of the abuse of alcohol or drugs by the person involved in the case.
Control over the fulfillment by the convict of the obligation to undergo treatment and rehabilitation is carried out by the penitentiary inspection. If the inspectors reveal facts that testify to the convict’s evasion of the obligation to undergo treatment, then they send materials for initiating a case on an administrative offense under Art. 6.9.1 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation. The dodger faces an administrative fine in the amount of 4,000 to 5,000 rubles or a punishment in the form of administrative arrest for up to 15 days.
“In practice, drug addicts do not particularly strive during the process to complicate its course with unnecessary examinations and receive additional burdens in a judicial act,” Kurashina shared her observations. – Typically, such a line is used by the defense if the accused himself wants to undergo rehabilitation, and there is also a desire to show the court the determination to break with addiction and illegal activities.
The smart alternative
Narcologists have long emphasized the need and importance of treating drug offenders for the success of their social rehabilitation.
“Our community considers the actions of the state in this direction to be extremely important and necessary,” says Ruslan Isaev, narcologist, president of the Independent Narcological Guild. — We studied foreign experience in detail, in some countries there is an alternative for criminal drug addicts – prison or treatment. Practice, including international practice, shows that drug addicts have a very high recidivism of crimes after being in a colony. Until the psychology of a person has changed, it is difficult to count on his return to a normal social life. After all, these are sick people, the disease pushes them to thoughtless crimes. Harmful antisocial behavior is in some sense only a consequence of painful changes in the brain.
In addition, the treatment of drug addicts, their return to society is much more economically feasible than keeping them in colonies, as evidenced by both foreign studies and the calculations of domestic specialists.
– A paradoxical situation is emerging: young people die in places of deprivation of liberty, turn into criminals. And for us, the taxpayers, it also costs more. A drug addict may well become a full-fledged member of society. These are not empty dreams – there are real examples from practice. So there are long-term economic benefits in the compulsory treatment of criminal drug addicts, – says Ruslan Isaev.
Offers have already been
The initiative to give drug addicted criminals the right to choose between criminal punishment and treatment was made back in 2011 by the then-existing Federal Drug Control Service of the Russian Federation (FSKN). The agency’s proposal was based on UN recommendations and international conventions.
The proposed program consisted of three stages: basic treatment (two weeks of detoxification, treatment of psychopathological disorders), two months of work with psychiatrists and rehabilitation.
However, the project was not destined to come true, although some of its provisions were accepted. The FSKN itself was disbanded in 2016.
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