Ashgabat (Turkmenistan), 30 November 2022 – The fifty-fifth session of the Subcommission on Illicit Drug Traffic and Related Matters in the Near and Middle East adopted a comprehensive set of recommendations on how to address drug challenges in the region at its meeting last week.
Held on an annual basis, the Subcommission – one of the five subsidiary bodies of the Commission on Narcotic Drugs (CND) – provides a platform for practitioners to discuss the regional perspective on the drug problem. The fifty-fifth Subcommission session, held from 22-25 November, concluded the 2022 cycle of meetings of the CND subsidiary bodies. The resulting recommendations will be brought to the attention of the CND at its next regular session in March 2023.
Mukhammed Khydyrov, Minister of Interior of Turkmenistan, recognized the regional meeting as “an important platform for the exchange of information and valuable practical proposals with regard to addressing and countering the world drug problem.”
At the Subcommission meeting the heads of national drug law enforcement agencies from the region discussed new trends in drug trafficking, the challenges posed by new synthetic drugs, and alternatives to conviction and punishment for drug-related cases of a minor nature, as well as ways to improve regional cooperation.
“It is our common and shared responsibility to address the world drug problem. That requires increased international cooperation, coordination and intelligence sharing”, underscored Ashita Mittal, the representative in Central Asia for the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC).
