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Drugs on wheels

Last week, a large-scale campaign to identify minibus drivers who use drugs while driving was announced in Petrozavodsk. Official reports emerged of the arrest of ten drivers who were transporting passengers while under the influence of heroin and marijuana. Last Friday, the problem of "mobile drug dens" (as "minibuses" are now called) was discussed at a meeting of the interdepartmental anti-drug commission under the government of Karelia.

Passengers of one of Petrozavodsk's minibuses recently witnessed an incident that shocked even those who had long been accustomed to the extreme driving style of local minibuses.

- It felt like the driver was either getting behind the wheel for the first time or the bus had broken down, - says one of the passengers, Elena Nikolaevna, - it was constantly jerking, then suddenly there were abrupt stops, so that we almost fell out of our seats. Several times it seemed like we were going to crash into something. One man got indignant, started swearing at the driver, and when he turned around, I felt uneasy. He looked like a homeless person - overgrown, in a dirty stretched sweater and, most importantly, he had this look... I decided that he was drunk, - he uttered something inarticulate. I got scared, thank God, my stop was already there.

Perhaps the driver of that minibus was "just" drunk, but its passengers became even more scared when the regional drug control department distributed information that 10 minibus drivers had been detained in Petrozavodsk for using drugs, not only opium, but also hard drugs like heroin. Four of them are suspected of driving while intoxicated.

According to Nikolai Kotlyarov, Deputy Director of the Republican Office of the Federal Drug Control Service (UDC), the drivers of the "minibuses" came to the attention of drug police officers at the end of last year during operational activities to suppress drug distribution channels in Petrozavodsk. It turned out that the "Gazelles" were a convenient place to organize mobile drug dens. Some drivers not only used drugs, but also sold them to dedicated passengers.

Last Friday, at the initiative of the Federal Drug Control Service, an emergency meeting of the interdepartmental commission for combating illegal drug trafficking under the Government of Karelia was held with the participation of representatives of the Petrozavodsk administration, the State Traffic Safety Inspectorate and entrepreneurs working in the passenger transportation market. The city authorities suspected the owners of the "minibuses" of gross violations of safety rules, consisting in the fact that drivers do not undergo a medical examination not only before leaving for the route, but also during the day and at the end of the shift.

However, the Chairman of the Passenger Transport Association, Igor Gusarov, denies this:

- My drivers who are caught on the road in a state of alcohol intoxication are fired immediately. I have personally taken away their licenses more than once. And we are hearing about drug addicts for the first time. Give us their names, we will fire them too.

According to Nikolai Tarakanov, CEO of the Petroline transport company, the problem of heroin-addicted drivers is not relevant for his company:

- Yes, the personnel issue is one of our most painful ones, but it is mainly connected with drunkenness. Often during a medical examination it turns out that the driver came to work with a severe hangover. But we don't let such people on the line.

However, the owners of minibuses admit that doctors who examine drivers are unable to detect the presence of drug intoxication because they do not have the appropriate qualifications. The same is stated by representatives of the traffic police, according to whom inspectors do not have special equipment to detect drug intoxication in drivers.

Nobody knows how many minibus drivers go on trips "high". Usually, when experts try to determine the real number of drug addicts in a country, region or city, they suggest multiplying the number of officially registered drug addicts by 5-10 times. If we apply this method to the data of the Drug Control Department on 10 drivers who use drugs, then in reality it may turn out that in Petrozavodsk, every sixth "minibus" (there are more than 600 of them in the city) is driven by a drug addict.

Meanwhile, the use of even such “harmless” drugs as marijuana while driving, according to the chief narcologist of Karelia, Mikhail Tselischev, can be deadly dangerous for those inside the car or on the road:

- Drug intoxication causes inadequate human behavior. And what inadequate behavior of a driver can lead to, especially if he has a full bus of passengers, there is no need to explain.

The entrepreneurs who participated in the commission meeting said that they are ready to send their doctors to the republican drug treatment center for advanced training. Some promise to refuse to hire people from the Caucasus, citing that drugs are allegedly mainly used by Caucasians, and that "drivers of Slavic nationalities relax differently." Passengers are asked to report their suspicions to the phone numbers listed in the minibuses.

The authorities of Petrozavodsk intend to conduct mass checks of how medical examination of drivers of private motor transport enterprises is conducted. It is planned to develop a republican law on the organization of passenger transportation, which will force the management of motor transport enterprises to bear responsibility for their drivers, up to and including the revocation of licenses.

However, some entrepreneurs doubt that the problem is as serious as the Drug Enforcement Administration claims.

“It’s the media that is whipping up a wave, turning public opinion against us,” says Anatoly Klimenko, director of Avtonik LLC.

A lawyer for the drivers caught using drugs even showed up at the commission meeting and began to prove that they had been detained illegally.

However, the drug police are determined and promise to continue the war they have started against "drug dens on wheels". But do these promises make things any easier for us, ordinary passengers?

stolica.onego.ru

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