Russian investigators claim they found hard drugs on board the Greenpeace “Arctic Sunrise” ship seized during a protest against arctic oil drilling last month.  Some are worrying it’s another sign showing Vladimir Putin’s Russia is lurching deeper in to the sort of unreasonable oppression not seen since Soviet times.

Russia’s Investigative Committee says agents confiscated what is believed to be poppy straw and morphine from the ship.  Poppy straw, or raw opium, can be used to produce morphine or heroin.

Greenpeace says it has a strict anti-drug policy, and notes the ship was search by authorities in its Norwegian homeport before launch.

“We can only assume the Russian authorities are referring to the medical supplies that our ships are obliged to carry under maritime law,” the group said in a press release.

The drug allegations add to the troubles of the 28 Greenpeace activists and two journalists collectively called “The Arctic 30”.  They’re facing up to 15 years in prison if convicted of “piracy” as alleged by Russian prosecutors.

It’s not the only overreaction from Moscow in recent days. A protester was sentenced to forced psychiatric treatment this week.  Mikhail Kosenko was charged with beating a cop during a mass anti-Kremlin demonstration last year.

Kosenko was diagnosed with mild schizophrenia more than a decade ago.  But the group Human Rights Watch says his condition was controlled by medication and he had never shown any aggression. 

“The majority of the evidence, including from the police officer himself, indicates that Kosenko never touched him,” said HRW’s Tanya Lokshina.

Activists condemned it as a return to the Soviet practice of using punitive psychiatry against dissidents.