Deputy Prime Minister: In the past, drug seizures were calculated in grams, now they are calculated in quintals and tons.

Drug crimes are becoming more sophisticated and aggressive.

On January 26 , the National Committee for AIDS, Drugs and Prostitution Prevention and Control held a conference to review the work in 2023 and deploy key tasks in 2024, chaired by Deputy Prime Minister Tran Luu Quang, Chairman of the National Committee for AIDS, Drugs and Prostitution Prevention and Control.

According to the Government Office , reporting at the conference, Senior Lieutenant General Nguyen Duy Ngoc, Deputy Minister of Public Security, said that the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime estimated that the number of drug users in the world increased from 240 million people in 2011 to 296 million people in 2023.

In Vietnam, the domestic drug crime situation continues to develop complicatedly on key routes and areas with increasingly sophisticated and aggressive methods and tricks of operation, ready to fight back, causing difficulties and dangers for the authorities in the process of fighting and arresting.

In 2023, the functional forces of the Ministry of Public Security discovered 5 new substances that have effects similar to synthetic cannabis, not included in the list of narcotics according to Decree No. 57/2022 dated August 25, 2022 of the Government; discovered a new method of drug production that appeared for the first time in Laos, Vietnam and countries in the region...

Currently, nationwide there are 229,265 illegal drug users, drug addicts and people under post-rehabilitation management, of whom 43,748 are illegal drug users; 170,521 drug addicts, of whom more than 71,000 are in society.

Thousands of people illegally use drugs, drug addicts show signs of psychosis, "stoned". This is identified as a huge "demand" for drug consumption, putting pressure on drug prevention and control work, while also posing a high risk of drug-related crimes, other crimes and law violations, causing insecurity and disorder in many localities.

Three ministries were assigned to develop a national target program on drug prevention and control.

Concluding the conference, Deputy Prime Minister Tran Luu Quang emphasized that the situation of HIV/AIDS, drugs, and prostitution is very worrying, requiring the attention and involvement of the entire political system, especially at the local level, and not leaving it to the authorities.

"Previously, drug seizures were calculated in grams and kilograms, but now they are calculated in quintals and tons, which is terrible. Drug traffickers are using increasingly sophisticated methods, taking advantage of high technology to produce, trade, store, transport drugs, and engage in prostitution. When the economy is difficult, they operate more vigorously," the Deputy Prime Minister emphasized.

The Deputy Prime Minister directed ministries and branches to proactively review and amend the legal corridor under their responsibility to suit the practical situation; report to the Government on contents beyond their authority for immediate resolution.

Each locality must proactively consult and learn from the experiences of other localities to have its own solutions suitable to its practical conditions and resources; and have plans to invest in, build or upgrade drug rehabilitation facilities.

"Kon Tum and Dak Nong provinces are currently two of three localities in the country that do not have drug rehabilitation facilities. They need to proactively arrange land funds and plan to build drug rehabilitation facilities," the Deputy Prime Minister requested.

Functional forces, especially the police, border guards and customs forces, must coordinate with each other better; coordinate with foreign functional agencies in preventing and combating drugs and prostitution; at the same time, promote international cooperation to share experiences and mobilize resources to serve the work of preventing and combating drug crimes and prostitution.

The Deputy Prime Minister requested that it is necessary to do a good job of counting the number of addicts; strengthen digital transformation; and consider including propaganda content on HIV/AIDS, drug and prostitution prevention in the education program.

The Deputy Prime Minister assigned the Ministry of Public Security to coordinate with the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs to preside over the development of the National Target Program on preventing, combating and improving the effectiveness of drug addiction treatment for Vietnamese people, to have sufficient legal framework and resources to improve the effectiveness of this work.

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