Moscow, October 31, 1997

Statement of NIKOLAJ KHRAMOV, Russian coordinator of the Radical Party and candidate to Moscow City Duma in the XXV district:

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Recently, speaking on "Ekho Moskvy", Mr. Gerasimenko called again for passing this draft law. It's the more urgent, he told, because there are materials of the Radical Party calling for legalizing drugs spread in the State Duma." What a strange logic: it is necessary to make legislation more punitive, because there voices for its liberalization heard!

We are living in a free country and we enjoy democracy. One of the fundamental bedrocks of democracy is the right to spread freely information, to inform citizens - including parliamentarians - about your political views and concrete proposals.

The Transnational Radical Party, its Russian members were distributing, do distribute currently and will distribute their proposals aimed at changing of the insane, counter-productive prohibitionist policy which demonstrated vividly its failure, a policy which leads by means of new and new repressions only in one direction: increasing price of "prohibited" substances, growth of drug trafficants' profits and consolidation of mafia's power.

We consider as our priority in Russia to prevent the draft law "On narcotic substances and psychotropics" which Mr. Gerasimenko is caring about, a law which would make bad service in struggle against spreading drugs but would contribute successfully into consolidation of our country as a police state.>>