In December 1999, a drug rehabilitation center was established in Yekaterinburg for the non-pharmacological treatment of drug addicts. Currently there are 130 patients staying in the center who quit using drugs, started living healthy lives and hope to help others.

The rehabilitation center was founded by the Drug-Free City Fund.

The Drug-Free City rehabilitation center has helped over 500 men and women.

The rehabilitation center has its own gym and football team made up of the center’s former patients.

Patients staying in the center learned various professions during their rehabilitation. All of them are employed at present, some working for the fund.

The Drug-Free City Fund was established in March 1998. Photo: a patient at the Drug-Free City rehabilitation center in Yekaterinburg.

At first the fund only worked to promote healthy lifestyles by handing out leaflets warning of the harmful effect of drugs, organizing sports competitions, sponsoring junior sports clubs, etc. Photo: patients at the Drug-Free City rehabilitation center in Yekaterinburg.

In August 1999, the fund radically changed its approach in order to deal with the problems of drug abuse and drug trafficking more effectively. Photo: patients in quarantine (the first stage of rehabilitation) at the Drug-Free City rehabilitation center in Yekaterinburg.

By January 2009, the fund carried out over 2,600 successful operations against drug dealers and filmed over 700 hours of their operations. The fund has fully eradicated drug trade in Gypsy settlements and several other districts of Yekaterinburg. Photo: patients in quarantine (first stage of the rehabilitation) at the Drug-Free City rehabilitation center in Yekaterinburg.

Between 1999 and 2003, deaths from drug overdoses in Yekaterinburg fell twelvefold. Photo: patients in quarantine (first stage of rehabilitation) at the Drug-Free City rehabilitation center in Yekaterinburg.

In 2004, the Russian parliament held a series of hearings to discuss the problem of drug trafficking and recommended that regional governments utilize the fund’s best practices to deal with the problem. Photo: patients in quarantine (first stage of rehabilitation) at the Drug-Free City rehabilitation center in Yekaterinburg.