Most of Russians adopt a tough stance on drug abuse: 80-90% are confident that the problem of drug addiction needs to be tackled, and legalizing even soft drugs is not acceptable.
MOSCOW, June 25, 2018. Russian Public Opinion Research Center (VCIOM) presents the data of a survey devoted to International Day of Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking.
Over the recent year the public opinion on drug abuse has changed. The share of those who see drug addiction as a decease that needs to be cured has declined (from 45% in 2017 to 37% in 2018). About one-third of respondents (32%) consider that drug addiction is a social problem which needs to be tackled. Twenty-three percent of respondents oppose this stance saying that drug addicts should be isolated from the society.
The majority (80%) agree that addiction to drugs can hardly be cured without outside help, or at least this likelihood is low.
The sense of social responsibility concerning the problem of drug addiction has heightened: the number of those who would go to the police to report cases of drug abuse or drug selling has increased from 57% to 73%. Today every tenth (10%) would not go to the police, unlike in 2007 (25%).
Only 5% of respondents believe that drug abuse is a private affair, and society should not respond to that (10% in the group of respondents who personally know someone who abuses drugs). According to half of respondents (47%), over the recent years the number of drug addicts has increased (vs 52% in 2017); 16% report a decrease.
For many years the majority of Russians have been confident that soft drugs cannot and should not be made available for sale, like tobacco and alcohol products (89% in 2018). Eight percent consider that soft drugs could be legalized; at the same time, the fact that many young respondents share this stance raises concerns (17% among the 18-24-year-olds, 13% among persons aged 25-34).
Eight percent of respondents say that there are drug users among their friends and relatives.
Medialogia Company reports that a total of 168,791 mentions of drug addiction have been found in the Russian media over a year. The most widely discussed topics were as follows: Russians approved of criminal penalty for drug abuse (VCIOM press release dated June 2017); the State Duma supported an initiative to punish those who use drugs; Ramzan Kadyrov called Oyub Titiev, head of “Memorial” local branch, detained in Chechnya a drug addict; Russians consider alcohol and drug abuse among young addicts to be the main childhood problem (VCIOM press release); World AIDS Day; “Sober Russia” federal project (implemented since 2012; aimed at dialogue between state bodies and public and religious institutions to develop a complex approach to solve drug and alcohol addiction problem in Russia).
The VCIOM-Sputnik survey was conducted on June 21, 2018, and involved 1,600 Russians aged 18 and over. The survey was telephone-based and was carried out using stratified dual-frame random sample based on a complete list of landline and mobile phone numbers operating in Russia. The data were weighted according to selection probability and social and demographic characteristics. The margin of error at a 95% confidence level does not exceed 2.5%. In addition to sampling error, minor changes in question wording and different circumstances arising during the fieldwork can introduce bias into the survey.
The 2004-2014 results are based on household surveys; in 2017, VCIOM-Sputnik survey results were used (sample size of 1,200 persons; margin of error 3.5%).
Russian media monitoring and analysis were carried out by Medialogia Company using the Medialogia database of 43,600 sources involving television, radio, newspaper, magazines information agencies and online media. The period of study was June 2017 – June 2018.
What is your attitude towards people who abuse drugs? (closed-ended question, one answer, % of total respondents) | ||||||
| 2004 | 2005 | 2010 | 2014 | 2017 | 2018 |
Drug addiction is a disease, and those people need medical help | 29 | 37 | 36 | 31 | 45 | 37 |
Drug addiction is a social problem; what should be treated is society itself | 37 | 30 | 32 | 37 | 28 | 32 |
Drug addicts are dangerous people; they should be kept in isolation | 26 | 25 | 24 | 28 | 21 | 23 |
Drug use is a private affair; I do not condemn those people | 6 | 7 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 5 |
Don’t know | 2 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 3 |
What is your attitude towards people who abuse drugs? (closed-ended question, one answer) 2018 | ||||
| Total respondents | Those who know someone who uses drugs | Those who probably know someone who uses drugs but are not sure about that | Those who do not know anyone who uses drugs |
Drug addiction is a disease, and those people need medical help | 37 | 30 | 32 | 39 |
Drug addiction is a social problem; what should be treated is society itself | 32 | 29 | 39 | 30 |
Drug addicts are dangerous people; they should be kept in isolation | 23 | 26 | 21 | 24 |
Drug use is a private affair; I do not condemn those people | 5 | 10 | 6 | 4 |
Don’t know | 3 | 5 | 2 | 3 |
In your opinion, how likely is it for a drug addict to get rid of drug addiction without outside help? (closed-ended question, one answer, % of total respondents) 2018 | ||||
| Total respondents | Those who know someone who uses drugs | Those who probably know someone who uses drugs but are not sure about that | Those who do not know anyone who uses drugs |
Highly likely | 9 | 11 | 12 | 8 |
Quite likely | 6 | 6 | 8 | 6 |
Hardly likely | 44 | 40 | 44 | 44 |
Very unlikely | 36 | 36 | 33 | 38 |
Don’t know | 5 | 7 | 3 | 4 |
In your opinion, has the number of drug addicts in Russia increased, decreased or stayed at the same level over the recent years? (closed-ended question, one answer, % of total respondents) |
| ||
| 2017 | 2018 | |
The number has increased | 52 | 47 | |
The number has remained the same | 13 | 15 | |
The number has decreased | 18 | 16 | |
Don’t know | 17 | 22 | |
There is a point of view that soft drugs are not harmful, could be made available and used like tobacco or alcohol. Do you agree with that or not? (closed-ended question, one answer % of total respondents) | |||||
| 2004 | 2010 | 2014 | 2017 | 2018 |
Rather agree | 9 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 8 |
Rather disagree | 85 | 90 | 89 | 93 | 89 |
Don’t know | 6 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 3 |
There is a point of view that soft drugs are not harmful and can be available and used like tobacco or alcohol. Do you agree with that or not? (closed-ended question, one answer, % of total respondents) 2018 | ||||
| Total respondents | Those who know someone who uses drugs | Those who probably know someone who uses drugs but are not sure about that | Those who do not know anyone who uses drugs |
Rather agree | 8 | 10 | 12 | 7 |
Rather disagree | 89 | 87 | 86 | 90 |
Don’t know | 3 | 3 | 2 | 3 |
If you witnessed drug use or sale, to whom would you report? (closed-ended question, one answer, % of total respondents) 2018 |
| ||
| 2007 | 2018 | |
Police* | 57 | 73 | |
Health care bodies | 3 | 8 | |
No one | 25 | 10 | |
Don’t know | 15 | 9 | |
* In 2007, two answer options were proposed: “militia” and “narcotics and psychotropics control authority”.
Do you know anyone among your friends and relatives who take drugs? (closed-ended question, one answer % of total respondents) | ||||||
| 2004 | 2005 | 2010 | 2014 | 2017 | 2018 |
Yes, I know | 13 | 10 | 12 | 11 | 12 | 8 |
No, I do not know anyone | 73 | 76 | 68 | 68 | 68 | 71 |
Maybe there is someone, but I know nothing about that | 13 | 12 | 19 | 19 | 20 | 20 |
Refusal to answer | 1 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 |
Note: Using materials from the site www.wciom.ru or wciom.com, as well as distributed by VCIOM, the reference to the source (or hyperlink for the electronic media) is obligatory! The use of the Medialogia system content, fully or partially, must be accompanied by the reference to the Medialogia Company.