MOSCOW, February 10 (RAPSI) – Deputy Speaker of the State Duma Irina Yarovaya has submitted to the lower house of Russian parliament a bill that would toughen criminal penalty for distribution of drugs in military units, according to the State Duma database.

Currently, illegal production and distribution of drugs, psychotropic substances and their crimes substitutes are punished with imprisonment from 4 to 8 years.

Toughened punishment is provided for drug activity in detention centers, penitentiary facilities, administration buildings, educational establishments, at sports facilities, objects of railway, inland water, maritime, air and public transport, on the subway, or at entertainment facilities. Crimes containing such qualifying criteria are punishable by jail terms varying from 5 to 12 years.

Under the bill, drug distribution in military units would be also recognized as a qualifying ground for tightened punishment and would result in prison sentence ranging from 5 to 12 years.

According to official statistics, there is a growing number of the said crimes, an explanatory note to the bill reads.  The Supreme Court’s Justice Department reported that in 2015 military courts convicted 560 people including 498 military personnel of crimes connected with illicit traffic in narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances, as compared to 384 persons including 265 military personnel in 2010.

The bill is supported by Russian Government and Supreme Court.