Emerging drug substances presents serious security and health issues and need urgent attention, chairman of national drugs agency says.
Stephen Mairori, the chairman of the National Authority for the Campaign Against Alcohol and Drug Abuse (NACADA) said the emergence of new psychoactive substances, synthetic drugs and the apparent shift to the non-medical use of narcotic and psychotropic substances have further complicated the drug problem.
“The potency of the emergent substances presents serious security and health issues – a situation if left unaddressed has the potential to reverse all hard-earned social-economic and political gains,” he said.
He said the national efforts should endeavor to strike a balance between supply and demand reduction as they are both mutually complementing.
“Supply reduction interventions should be vibrant, flexible, and sufficiently innovative to tackle emerging trends in the production, sale, and trafficking of narcotic and psychotropic substances.”
He made the remarks during meeting of high level segment and the 67th session of the Commission on Narcotics Drugs (CND) in Vienna, Austria on March 16.
He said demand reduction strategies should be people-oriented covering all areas in prevention, treatment, rehabilitation, and availability of controlled substances for medical and scientific purposes.
He said the meeting resents a call to all to double efforts in combating the world drug problem.
Mairori said Kenya has adopted a two-pronged approach that provides sufficient focus on both demand and supply reduction.
This response is guided by the national policies and legislations that are aligned to the three international conventions on drug control and adopted policy documents, he added.
Mairori affirmed Kenya’s commitment to uphold the principles enshrined in the international drug conventions and stand opposed to all forms of non-conformity including legalization of controlled substances for recreational use.
The CND is the primary drug policy-making body of the UN. It meets annually to discuss the world’s drug problem, develop strategies on international drug control, and recommend measures that governments can take to address the problem. During the 67th session of the UN CND, countries conducted a midterm review of the 2019 Ministerial Declaration on “Strengthening Our Actions at the National, Regional and International Levels to Accelerate the Implementation of our Joint Commitments to Address and Counter the World Drug Problem”.
The midterm review serves to assess the progress made by countries in the implementation of their commitments and discuss the way forward to accelerate the implementation of the said commitments.
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