OCTAVIA NASR, CNN ANCHOR: Russia's prime minister says his country's future is in jeopardy because of widespread drug abuse. Mikhail Kasyanov told a government meeting this week that the number of drug addicts in Russia has jumped 20-fold in the last 10 years and he said the deadly addiction is spreading fastest among young people. Russia's ORT reports on this destructive trend.</s>UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER, (voice-over): Drug trafficking and drug abuse are becoming a national security problem for Russia. In St. Petersburg alone, there are 200,000 drug addicts according to official data. Unofficial figures are much higher, more than one million people. Many female drug addicts are forced to become prostitutes to be able pay for the drugs. In St. Petersburg, almost 60 percent of them are HIV positive and are suffering from hepatitis. Nowadays, the city teenagers are often receiving their first shot of heroin at the age of 14.</s>LEONID SHPILENA, CHIEF NARCOLOGIST (through translator): The city had to open up this a special maternity hospital for young drug addicts. About 6 percent of the newborn children are suffering from post-heroin syndrome</s>UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: But the city doesn't have enough money to fight the problem. Many undercover drugs enforcement officers have to pawn their own cars in order to obtain money to use in their investigations. If the operation goes wrong and the dealer runs away with the money, then the car is lost. But even if the authorities in St. Petersburg succeeded in cutting off heroin supply roots to the city, the drug dealers would still stay busy because they're getting ready to produce a new powerful drug in their underground laboratories called
St. Petersburg Sees Dramatic Increase in Drug Addiction