MOSCOW, November 13 (RAPSI) - The Moscow City Duma has approved a bill introducing psychological testing for exposing school students' drug abuse, RIA Novosti reported Wednesday.

Lyudmila Stebenkova, head of the Moscow City Council's Committee on Health Care and Public Health, believes that testing will start in December. According to Stebenkova, this amendment must be adopted because the city drug law must conform to the federal law.

The mechanism of a medical examination starts with a voluntary questionnaire distributed to school students, according Stebenkova, whose statement was published on the Duma website Wednesday. As a result of such a questionnaire, a risk group will be identified and those pupils who are entered on the list will be asked to take a medical examination. If it shows that a pupil takes drugs psychologists and other experts will engage and start working with the family

The tests will be offered on a voluntary basis. A recent survey conducted among people aged from 11 to 24 showed that around 25% have tried drugs. The average age for the first time to try drugs is 15-16.

The law will take effect in December.