Siberian Police Ban Films With Drug Use
Published: April 6, 2011 (Issue # 1650)
MOSCOW — Novosibirsk anti-narcotics officers have cracked down on Hollywood flicks, ordering a local web site to remove films touching on illegal substances, including “Saving Grace,” “Trainspotting” and “Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas.”
All films were available for download at the local web site 211.ru. It was not immediately clear whether the films were pirated, but bootleg copies of movies are widely shared in Russian cyberspace.
The order was issued last week but only became public this week when a copy of the Internet service provider’s memo ordering the removal of the movies appeared online.
Linguistic and psychological examinations of the films held separately by anti-narcotics officers and the Siberian branch of the Russian Academy of Medical Sciences indicated that they promoted illegal drugs, an anti-drug police spokesman told Interfax.