United nations office for drugs and crime (UNODC)

Distinguished Chairman of the CND Ambassador Mansoor Ahmad Khan,

Distinguished Executive Director of the UNODC, Ms. Ghada Waly,

Distinguished Ambassadors,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Russia commends the work of the UNODC to collect and analyze drug statistics provided by Member States. It is not an easy task. We are satisfied that the World Drug Report on the whole turned out to be a balanced and solid paper that highlights valuable insights on the dynamics of the global drug situation and may be used as appropriate as one of the important scientific evidence-based tools to inform global and national drug control policies.

We would like to note that some assumptions contained in the Report, namely those that the Russian territory may serve as a transit point for Afghan opiate trafficking to Europe do not correspond to information available to Russian competent authorities.

Today on the International Day against Drug Abuse and Trafficking, the Russian Federation would like to reiterate its strong commitment to building a society free of drug abuse. We categorically renounce any attempts to legalize non-medical use of drugs. In this regard, we appreciate the Report’s clear provisions on risks and dangers related to commercialization of cannabis by large corporations and other stakeholders that place revenue and profit above public health considerations.

We believe that the Report must and will contribute to further effort to maintain and strengthen the global drug control regime based on the three UN conventions.

Russia fully shares the conclusion of the Report that the investment in drug use prevention among children and youth is the most cost-effective way to ensure safety and wellbeing of our peoples.

Russia recognizes the need to further study and address social and economic causes of illicit drug-related activities. However, we strongly believe that Sustainable Development Goals are not and should not be criteria per se for measuring success of drug control policies.

Russian competent authorities will take a closer look at the important analytical document in question.

Thank you for your attention.