Russia Allocates Over 8 Million Rubles to Destroy Wild Cannabis
In the first half of 2024, regional Russian budgets allocated more than 8 million rubles to destroy wild cannabis, which is classified as a narcotic plant. This marks a record amount spent on combating cannabis growth.
Record Spending on Cannabis Eradication
From January to June 2024, officials signed at least 27 contracts with companies to eliminate wild cannabis growth, totaling 8.7 million rubles. For the same period last year, 7.9 million rubles were spent, representing a 10% increase in expenditures.
The Republic of Buryatia led all regions, allocating 3 million rubles for cannabis eradication. Other regions that spent significant amounts include Altai Krai, Irkutsk Oblast, and Krasnoyarsk Krai. In contrast, regions in the European part of Russia did not spend any money on cannabis elimination. In Yakutia, 1 million rubles were allocated for a study on methods to combat wild cannabis, with the hope that the results will help optimize eradication techniques.
Herbicide Spraying Used to Destroy Cannabis
Typically, cannabis is destroyed using herbicides sprayed onto the plants. Since 2017, the cost of this service has nearly quadrupled, but its effectiveness remains questionable. For example, the Novosibirsk company MUP “Gorvodokanal” received 3.5 million rubles from the state budget to destroy cannabis, but despite their efforts, the area of wild cannabis growth increased by 13%—from 81.4 to 91.9 hectares. As a result, the fight against cannabis cannot even be called Sisyphean.
The War on Cannabis Intensifies
Despite the lack of success, efforts to combat wild cannabis have only intensified. In 2023, a record 49,400 tons of cannabis were destroyed. According to police, the increase in the amount of destroyed cannabis is due not to a rise in the area of growth, but to stronger measures against the spread of narcotic plants.
Decline in Cannabis Seizures After Pandemic Spike
Law enforcement did not provide statistics for last year on cannabis seized for recreational use. However, the United Nations’ “World Drug Report 2024” indicates that Russia’s cannabis boom has ended. Compared to 2020, in 2021 the weight of confiscated marijuana increased by 30% to 12,175 kilograms, hashish by 137% to 2,213 kilograms, and cannabis plants by eight times to 24,610 kilograms. But in 2022, these figures dropped back to approximately 2020 levels. Therefore, the cannabis surge was likely a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.