Permanent Mission of the Russian Federation to the United Nations

Permanent Mission of the Russian Federation to the United Nations

Statement by Mr. Nikita Lushnikov, Chairman of the National Anti-Drug Union of Russia, at the high-level event on «Crime Prevention and Sustainable Development through sport»

There are multiple various rehabilitation programs for dependent people around the world but not a single country has been able to successfully offer employment and resocialization of the graduates of these rehab programs. 

As someone who has been dependent and dealt with this issue for over 23 years, I can confidently say the problem is not quitting an addiction, the problem is not falling back into it. This problem doesn't only concern my country but the entire world! 

Speaking of solutions for this issue, I would like to focus on how we can fight this problem through sport since the topic of today's session is "Prevention of crime and development through sport" in spite of the many other employment options that exist. 

Nowadays the European black markets are filled with synthetic drugs which is why we see a change in the age group of consumers. Students of schools and universities are now more vulnerable to drugs since once they fall into it, they find it hard to change their lifestyle. As a person who has kept sobriety thanks to doings sports – I can say that there were obligatory conditions such as competing in competitions, setting goals, educating and motivating myself. In the National Anti-Drug Union we have succesfully managed to motivate our graduates through mixed martial arts thanks to famous Russian sport figures but we aim to also develop other directions such as a night hockey league for the young dependents. 

Our results have been proven and can be seen on our websites through testimonies and videos. Unfortunately due to technical issues we can not watch the clips of our therapeutic camps here but you can see them at nikitalushnikov.com 

 We will be happy to share our experience and unite our common efforts in the fight against the problems of dependence in the entire world community.