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COOPERATION IN DRUGS AND NARCOTICS CONTROL |
During the period under review, efforts continued to be effected to prevent and control the problems of use and trafficking in illicit drugs in the region. The alarming increase of cases of AIDS in the region and its proven close relation- ship with intravenous drug-taking habits port- rays the drug problem in a new perspective. However, ASEAN cooperation in drugs and narcotics control continued to be beset by the lack of financial supports for those projects already approved for implementation.
2 The 13th Meeting of the ASEAN Senior Officials on Drug Matters (ASOD) was held in Bandar Seri Begawan, on 3 - 6 September 1990. In reviewing the activities implemented over the past year, the Meeting lamented on the conspicuous slackening of financial support for drug preventive education programme which is the main thrust if the drug problem is to be contained. In view of this situations, the Meeting decided that those drug preventive education projects which had not been implemented since it was approved as far back as 1985 would be incorporated and repackaged as an ASEAN Three-Year Plan of Action in Drug Preventive Education. The Philippines had agreed to under- take the exercise and table it at the 14th Meeting of ASOD in 1991 in Jakarta.
3 The Period under review saw only five regional drug prevention and control activities being carried out. These were:
a. The Training Workshop for Drug Law Enforcement Officers; 5 - 16 November 1990
b. The Seminar of Forfeiture and Seizure of Assets; 28 January - 1 February 1991
c. The ASEAN-EC Experts Seminar on Preventive Education, 25 February - 1 March 1991, Manila
d. The ASEAN-EC Experts Seminar on Treatment and Rehabilitation, 17 - 21 June 1991, Kuala Lumpur;
e. The ASEAN-New Zealand Training in Detection and Investigation, 10 June - August 1991, Singapore.
(The Preparatory Meeting for the Seminar in (c) and (d) was held at the ASEAN Secretariat in Jakarta on 21-22 September 1990.)
f. The ASEAN Training and Handling of Narcotics Detector Dogs, held in Singapore (New Zealand's assistance).
4 All these activities were parts of long-term drug prevention and control projects. The Second Training Course for Forensic Chemist under the ASEAN-EC Research and Detection of Drugs in Body Fluids which was scheduled to be held at the ASEAN Research Training Centre in Singapore in February 1991 was not able to be implemented due to the non-arrival of the necessary funds from the EC.
5 Despite the decrease in the number of projects and activities for regional cooperation in the fields of drug prevention and control, national activities continue to be implemented, Bilateral and trilateral cooperative measures among ASEAN Countries have also been carried out for further strengthened in the joint efforts at preventing and controlling the menace.
6 Pursuant to the EC's new guidelines for cooperation with developing countries in Latin America and Asia, it was decided that 10% of the total allocation of the EC's budget assistance amounting to 2,750 million ECU will be spent on environment, particularly for the protection of tropical forest, and the fight against drug abuse.
For more information, please refer to the project details
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