Doha: The state of Qatar, represented by the Ministry of Interior, participated in the 35th Arab Conference for Heads of Anti-Narcotics Agencies, which concluded yesterday, via video conference.
The Qatari delegations was headed by Director of Studies and International Affairs at the General Directorate of Drug Enforcement of the Ministry of Interior (MoI) Lt. Col. Mohammed Abdullah Mohammad Al Khater, as the conference reviewed the experiences of member states and their national plans in the field of drug control and psychotropic substances, and the results of the meetings of the three procedural sub-working groups for drug control that met in June, 2021.
The conference also discussed a number of important issues, including (production centers, consumption patterns, smuggling methods, and methods of control and response), the extent of their impact on the Arab region and the consumption of drugs and psychotropic substances during the COVID-19 pandemic, and the results of Arab and international meetings in the field of drug control (2020- 2021).
On the side line of the conference, a joint meeting was held between the heads of drug control agencies and representatives of the ministries of health in the Arab countries, who discussed a number of topics, including means to enhance cooperation between the two sides, the repercussions of the COVID -19 pandemic on combating narcotics and psychotropic substances in the Arab world, and a draft plan to deal with updates and developments on the misuse of medical and psychological drugs and how to deal with their harms, in addition to the procedures and controls for passengers taking narcotic drugs and monitoring.