Dushanbe, Tajikistan – 3 October 2024 – In an pressing response to the escalating drug disaster impacting youth throughout Central Asia, the Group for Safety and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) convened a regional workshop specializing in the prevention of drug use and the provision of recent psychoactive substances (NPS). The 2-day occasion, held on 2 and three October, introduced collectively over 40 specialists, policymakers, and regulation enforcement professionals from numerous Central Asian nations, alongside representatives from a number of worldwide organizations, together with the United Nations Workplace on Medication and Crime (UNODC) and the European Union.
In the course of the workshop’s opening session, Maksudjon Duliyev, the pinnacle of the UNODC workplace in Tajikistan, expressed grave considerations relating to the worldwide drug disaster, citing the most recent World Drug Report, which revealed that 292 million folks worldwide interact in drug use, but just one in eleven people with drug use issues receives enough remedy. “Behind these numbers are actual lives—households without end modified by this disaster,” Duliyev said, underscoring the human toll of the epidemic.
Duliyev additional highlighted the rising menace from NPS, reporting that 566 new substances had been recognized globally in 2022, with 44 categorised as new, underscoring the pressing want for efficient prevention methods concentrating on susceptible youth populations.
Ambassador Willy Kempel, head of the OSCE Programme Workplace in Dushanbe, reiterated the gravity of the state of affairs, linking it to established drug manufacturing and smuggling routes originating from neighboring Afghanistan. “The essential want for regional collaboration can’t be overstated,” Kempel remarked, emphasizing the need of cultivating ongoing cooperation efforts to fight the drug disaster successfully.
Addressing the identical points, Miguel de Domingo, Head of Unit for Safety, Peace, and Improvement on the Fundación Internacional y para Iberoamérica de Administración y Políticas Públicas (FIIAPP), pointed to the speedy proliferation of NPS as a brand new problem for public well being. “The function of digital platforms within the distribution of NPS is especially regarding,” de Domingo famous, calling for elevated monitoring and regulation to curb the rising affect of those substances amongst younger folks.
All through the workshop, individuals engaged in discussions surrounding numerous pertinent subjects, together with rising developments in drug trafficking, threat and protecting components influencing NPS use, and the essential function of worldwide cooperation in establishing early warning programs and speedy response methods. The emphasis on evidence-based prevention applications tailor-made particularly for younger folks was a focus of many discussions, illustrating a dedication to addressing the distinctive challenges confronted by this demographic.
The occasion concluded with a name for joint efforts and sustained cooperation throughout international locations to successfully mitigate the threats posed by NPS and different illicit medication. As Central Asia grapples with this urgent challenge, the urgency for collaborative motion and modern prevention methods has by no means been clearer, promising a extra cautious future for the area’s youth.
