ASEAN strives for a drug-free community
PSNews-A press conference on the outcomes of the 38th ASEAN Senior Officials’ Meeting on Drugs Matters (ASOD 28) was held on July 26 in Hanoi.
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According to the organizers, the ASOD 38 was participated by 19 delegations of senior officials of various drug combat agencies of the ASEAN 10 member countries; ASEAN’s 5 dialog partners, namely China, S. Korea, Japan, India and Russia; and representatives from the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crimes (UNODC), the US Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) and the Australian Federal Police (AFP).
Speaking at the conference, Senior Colonel Hoang Anh Tuyen, Deputy Head of the Staff Department (C42) under the General Department of Police stressed that the meeting aimed to update delegates on the progress of implementation of the cooperation programs and initiatives adopted by the ASOD 37 in Thailand; review the implementation of the recommendations of the 5th ASEAN Ministerial Meetings on Drugs Matters (AMND) held in Singapore in 2016; evaluate the implementation of the ASEAN Action Plan on striving to protect the community from drug-related crimes in the period 2016-2015; and propose new cooperation ideas.
In addition to the plenary session, ASOD 38 also discussed five major subjects: preventive education; detoxification and rehabilitation; research; law enforcement; and development plans for the replacement of narcotic plants.
ASOD38 mapped out specific action programs, contributing to the high level political commitment of ASEAN in drug prevention and control in an effort to build the ASEAN Community under the joint commitment to effectively addressing and countering the world drug problem reached at the UNGASS 2016 Special Meeting, and in preparation for the ASEAN Ministerial Meetings on Drug Matters to be held in Vietnam in 2018.
