Vice - Prime Minister of the Kyrgyz Republic: “Measures should be taken to improve drug situation in the Kyrgyz Republic”

Around 269 million people used drugs worldwide in 2018, 30 per cent more than in 2009, while over 35 million people suffer from drug use disorders, according to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) World Drug Report 2020. The effect of COVID-19 pandemic on drug markets is unknown and hard to predict but it could be far reaching. Some producers could be forced to seek out new ways of manufacturing drugs as restrictions on movement limit access to precursors and essential chemicals.

Over 30 representatives of the state bodies, heads of law enforcement units, state administrations and local governance bodies of the south region of Kyrgyzstan gathered at the State Coordination Committee on drug control meeting in Osh city to discuss the drug situation at the global and regional levels.

The new Counter-Narcotics Programme of the Government of the Kyrgyz Republic and its Action Plan for the period of 2021 – 2025 were also reviewed at the meeting.

Vice-Prime Minister of the Kyrgyz Republic, Mr. Maksat Mamytkanov chaired the meeting and highlighted the importance of undertaking necessary measures to improve drug situation in the Kyrgyz Republic and coordinating efforts among state bodies, local authorities, the civil society and international organizations.

“State policy in the field of drug control must, of course, be based on the Constitution of the Kyrgyz Republic and the national legislation, international treaties ratified by Kyrgyzstan, such as the UN Conventions of 1961, 1971 and 1988, as well as on the decisions of the international community on drug policy in a form of Political Declaration,” emphasized Andrey Seleznev, Head of the UNODC Program Office in the Kyrgyz Republic.

The coordination committee aims at consolidating the efforts of all state institutions in creating an effective model of coordination in the sphere of drug control at the national level.

During the event, the participants suggested to improve the criminal and criminal procedural legislation of the Kyrgyz Republic, to eliminate the existing gaps for effective combating drug trafficking and countering the Afghan opiates along the "Northern route".

The results of a “Study on the availability of controlled drugs for the treatment of severe pain in Kyrgyzstan” conducted by UNODC with the financial support from the Government of Japan were presented to the participants of the meeting. The report states that access to pain relievers is a fundamental human right.

The meeting of the State Coordination Committee on Drug Control was conducted as part of the Sub-programme 1: “Combating Transnational Organized Crime, Drug Trafficking and Prevention of Terrorism” of the UNODC Program for Central Asia 2015-2020.

 

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