MOSCOW, May 29 (RAPSI) - The Federation Council, the upper house of Russia's parliament, has approved a bill on testing school students for the use of drugs and psychotropic substances on Wednesday.

The government sponsored bill calls for testing students at secondary schools, vocational schools, colleges and universities to detect drug users as early as possible.

Drug users will be exposed in two stages - through social and psychological tests held by school and university psychologists, and during routine medical checkups.

The tests will be voluntary. Students aged over 15 will sign a written agreement and parents will make the decision for younger pupils. The same requirement will apply to the mandatory treatment of drug users.

If the test provides evidence or gives suspicion that a student is using drugs, he or she will be sent to a drug treatment center.

According to the law, all schools and universities should ensure the confidentiality of drug test results.

A survey of young Russians aged 11-24 suggests that 25% of the individuals in this age group have used drugs. They tried drugs for the first time at an average age of 15-16.

The law will come into force six months after it is signed by the president.