Students and applicants will be tested for drug use

On September 20, 2005, it became known about the plans to introduce testing of applicants and students of Russian universities for drug use. Moreover, if Minister Andrei Fursenko believes that tests "should not become mandatory, but should be massive" , then the head of the department for youth policy, Sergei Apatenko, said that the possibility of mandatory testing of Russian students in the department is being considered: "Not a single country in the world uses the methodology mandatory testing, but now there is a need to act ," Apatenko said.

The Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation explains that they will not punish a student who turns out to be a drug addict, but a provision on testing may also appear in the statutes of Russian universities. For example, when entering a university, a student, in addition to a medical form, will also be required to provide the results of a drug test.

According to the Code of Administrative Offenses and the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, only citizens who are suspected of administrative offenses or criminal offenses can be subjected to compulsory drug testing. According to the law on health protection, testing without the consent of citizens should be carried out only if they are carriers of diseases dangerous to society, suffer from severe mental disorders, or have committed socially dangerous acts.

Lev Levinson, head of the public organization New Drug Policy, believes that forced testing will violate basic constitutional principles - the presumption of innocence and the right to privacy. “In our country, the statistics of theft are no less loud than the statistics of drug addiction ,” says Levinson. “ But no one comes up with checking all subway passengers to see if they accidentally stole something . ”

Sources

• A mandatory condition for admission to a university may be a drug test // NEWSru.com. 2005. September 20.