On drug abuse prevention and the control of illicit drugs.

• Author: Chisman, Anna

Increased cooperation to prevent drug abuse and control the trafficking of illicit drugs in Central America will be the outcome of a meeting that was held in Mexico City on January 24 and 25.

At the initiative of the Mexican Government, and in the framework of the Inter-American Drug Abuse Control Commission (CICAD) of the OAS and of the Permanent Central American Commission to Combat the Production and Use of Illicit Drugs and Trafficking Therein (CCP), representatives of Belize, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Panama met with their counterparts from Argentina, Canada, Colombia, Chile, Mexico, and the United States, as well as a representative of the United Nations International Drug Control Programme (UNDCP), to coordinate stronger measures to combat drug trafficking and abuse in a region that has been experiencing a recent upsurge in drug use and trafficking.

As a result of this high-level encounter, which was inaugurated by the Attorney General of Mexico, a short-term action program was spelled out, involving harmonization of laws and procedures, health promotion, prevention of drug use, treatment and rehabilitation of drug users, and enhanced cooperation in the intelligence about and interdiction of trafficking in illicit drugs. Argentina, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Mexico, and the United States will consider the possibility of providing bilateral and multilateral assistance through CICAD to cooperate with the Central American countries in implementing this program.

In a related development, CICAD hosted a historic meeting in Washington, D.C., between representatives of the Consejo Nacional contra las Adicciones (CONADIC) of Mexico, the Center for Substance Abuse Prevention (CSAP) of the United States, and the Pan...