ASEAN Senior Officials’ Meeting on Drug Matters opens in Hanoi

Vietnam has actively joined ASEAN efforts to deal with complicated issues related to drug matters and related crimes, he said, adding that the country has proposed many feasible initiatives and ideas to promote intra-bloc cooperation and linkage as well as external relations.

The deputy minister reported that Vietnam has taken synchronous measures to reduce drug demand and supply, while improving the legal framework in the field and raising public awareness of illicit drug’s danger and persifying detoxification models.

He expressed belief that the conference will contribute to delivering on ASEAN’s high-level commitments in the anti-drug fight for 2016-2025 towards the ASEAN Ministerial Meeting on Drug Matters slated for 2018 in Vietnam.

The East Asian and Southeast Asian region is now home to more than 3 million heroin users and more than 5 million methamphetamine abusers. The emergence of new narcotics and their increasing use since 2009 have posed great challenges to ASEAN member states. The Golden Triangle area remains a hotspot of poppy tree cultivation and methamphetamine production.

The region also faces the comeback of drug-contained tree cultivation.

Last year, the ASEAN Community adopted the Plan of Action on drug prevention and control for 2016-2025.

The ASEAN Senior Officials’ Meeting on Drug Matters will last till July 27.