Kazakh government adopts plan to combat drug addiction

Astana, The Gulf Observer: The government adopted a Comprehensive Plan to Combat Drug Addiction and Drug Trafficking until 2025.

President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev proposed an important initiative in his state-of-the-nation address last September.

Widely discussed in the expert community, the plan includes new mechanisms and tools that are primarily aimed at preventing drug addiction and reducing the number of drug addicts. The plan’s objective is to consolidate the efforts of society, its civil institutions and all authorities, said Karin.

Karin recalled that Tokayev addressed the fight against the spread of synthetic drugs as one of the topmost priorities in his election campaign.

No plan related to this problem has been drawn up since 2016, which afflicted the effectiveness of the fight against drugs, Karin noted.

“Hence, the Council for Youth Policy under the President was one of the first in the public field to broach a point of the spread of synthetic drugs,” he said.

The newly convened Mazhilis, a lower house of the Parliament, also repeatedly raised the problem of synthetic drugs, which was touched on again by the President at the National Kurultai (Congress) in Turkistan.

Tokayev called the spread of drugs among young people a problem that threatens the health of the nation, assuring them to keep this issue under special control personally.

According to Foreign Ministry’s Spokesperson Aibek Smadiyarov, on July 3, the ministry held a briefing on the activities of the Central Asian Regional Information and Coordination Center for Combating Illicit Trafficking of Narcotic Drugs, Psychotropic Substances and their Precursors (CARICC) for the diplomatic corps and international organizations accredited in Kazakhstan.

The event, chaired by First Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Kairat Umarov and CARICC Director Atageldy Yazlyev, covered the outcomes of the CARICC work at the regional and global levels, and its capabilities in countering the international drug business.

At the invitation of the United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken, on July 7, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Murat Nurtleu will take part in the seventh virtual Ministerial-level meeting to launch a Global Coalition to address Synthetic Drug Threats.

The meeting, which will bring together more than 50 countries and five international organizations, is aimed at sharing the experience of the international community in the fight against illicit trafficking, production and use of synthetic drugs.