Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh: Drug prevention is an urgent task

Concluding the national online conference from the Central to provinces, cities, communes, wards, and special zones to deploy the National Target Program on Drug Prevention and Control until 2030 on the morning of October 9, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh requested "3 reductions, 3 increases" including: reducing supply, reducing demand, reducing harm; increasing legal effectiveness, increasing investment resources, and increasing smart governance in drug prevention and control.

Drugs are a threat to sustainable development and people's lives.

At the conference, along with assessing the current situation of crime and drug abuse in the world , the region and Vietnam, delegates were introduced to the main contents of the National Target Program on Drug Prevention and Control until 2030.

Crime and drug abuse in the world and in the region are becoming more and more complicated, increasingly serious and tending to increase sharply in both supply and demand. The average annual drug production is estimated at 3,000 tons of all kinds. There are currently 316 million people in the world using drugs, increasing on average by about 3% each year. The Southeast Asian region with the "hot spot" of drugs in the Golden Triangle has become one of the largest drug production and consumption centers in the world.

In Vietnam, the total number of cases and the average number of arrests per year in the 2020-2024 period is more than 20,000 cases and more than 31,000 subjects with an average annual seizure of nearly 1,000 kg of heroin; more than 5,000 kg and nearly 5 million synthetic drug pills.

On average, every year in the period 2020-2024, the number of addicts, users, and people under post-rehabilitation management nationwide is 237,698 people. Vietnam is at risk of becoming a drug transit area; drugs are creeping into schools, and there is a trend of younger addicts...

The national target program on drug prevention and control by 2030 aims to promote the combined strength of the political system and the entire population in drug prevention and control; focusing on grassroots areas; synchronously implementing solutions to reduce supply, reduce demand, and reduce harm; contributing to building a safe and healthy society, promoting socio-economic development.

At the conference, leaders of ministries, branches and localities focused on discussing tasks and solutions to effectively implement the Program, especially in preventing and combating organized and transnational drug crimes; applying science and technology in drug prevention and control; improving the capacity of drug prevention and control work; improving the effectiveness of drug prevention and control at the grassroots level; effectively managing drug addiction treatment and post-treatment management; enhancing medical response; communication and education, improving access to legal aid services...

Concluding the conference, reiterating that in order to implement General Secretary To Lam's directive on building drug-free provinces and cities, each commune, ward, and special zone must become a drug-free commune, ward, and special zone, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh emphasized that drugs are a danger not only to each country but also to all of humanity. In the country, the situation of drug crime and drug abuse continues to be very complicated. Vietnam is at risk of becoming an international-scale area for drug production, storage, and transportation. The number of drug addicts and illegal drug users tends to be younger; causing a shortage of a significant workforce that can participate in socio-economic development. The amount of money spent on drug use is estimated at about 11 trillion VND per year...

“Drugs are still a direct threat to sustainable socio-economic development, national security and safety, and the happy lives of the people,” the Prime Minister emphasized.

Therefore, the Prime Minister affirmed that drug prevention is an urgent and important task to protect the peaceful life of the people, protect the happiness of each family, and contribute to ensuring security, order and sustainable development of the country.

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh chairs the conference to deploy the national target program on drug prevention and control until 2030. (Photo: Duong Giang/VNA)

According to the Prime Minister, the Party and State always pay special attention, affirm strong determination, prioritize large resources and focus on directing the drastic and effective implementation of synchronous, comprehensive, inter-sectoral solutions in drug prevention and control.

The Government and the Prime Minister have focused on directing the Ministry of Public Security to preside over and closely coordinate with ministries, branches and localities to develop and submit to the 15th National Assembly for approval the investment policy for the National Target Program on Drug Prevention and Control until 2030.

Immediately after that, the Government issued an Implementation Plan as a basis for implementation, specifically identifying 5 key contents; 20 tasks under the authority of the Government, the Prime Minister and ministries, central and local agencies.

The Prime Minister acknowledged, commended and highly appreciated the efforts and important results achieved by the Ministry of Public Security and the People's Public Security force in drug prevention and control in general and the development and implementation of the National Target Program on Drug Prevention and Control in particular, making an important contribution to protecting the peaceful life of the people and promoting socio-economic development.

Noting important points in thinking and awareness about drug prevention and control, the Prime Minister emphasized that it is necessary to clearly identify this as a Program of extremely important significance to focus on solving a number of urgent issues; the focus is on closely combining prevention and control, reducing supply, reducing demand, and reducing the harmful effects of drugs.

Drug prevention and control is a key task, both urgent, regular, continuous and long-term, requiring perseverance, persistence, determination and high resolve. It is an important task of the entire political system and society, requiring close and synchronous coordination of all levels and sectors; further promoting the core role of specialized forces and the active participation of all classes of people.

The Prime Minister requested that heads of Party committees, authorities, agencies and organizations directly lead, direct, strengthen inspection, examination, supervision and strictly handle violations in drug prevention and control work in general and in implementing the Program, and not "entrust" or "outsource" the implementation to subordinates and specialized forces.

Implementing "3 reductions, 3 increases" in drug prevention and control

To effectively implement and achieve the set goals of the National Target Program on Drug Prevention and Control by 2030, the Prime Minister requested ministries, branches and localities to focus on reviewing, amending and supplementing mechanisms, policies and laws to ensure they are suitable, unified, synchronous, close to reality and highly feasible, creating a complete legal basis for effective implementation of the Program.

The Ministry of Public Security shall preside over and coordinate with relevant ministries and branches to promptly complete the draft Law on Amendments and Supplements to a number of Articles of the Law on Drug Prevention and Control, report to the National Assembly for consideration and approval at the upcoming 10th Session; promptly issue documents guiding the implementation and promulgate a set of indicators and forms for monitoring and evaluating the implementation of the Program, ensuring the process of organizing and implementing the Program in a unified and effective manner.

Ministries, branches, localities, and agencies managing the Program urgently develop a Program implementation plan with comprehensive solutions suitable to the characteristics of each unit and locality with goals, roadmaps, and tasks following the motto "6 clear: clear people, clear work, clear responsibilities, clear authority, clear time, clear results." In particular, it is important to pay attention to drastically implementing solutions from the beginning to soon complete the Program's goals; any urgent tasks with sufficient conditions should be prioritized to be completed immediately, without waiting until 2030.

Ministries, branches, central and local agencies must closely follow the goals, tasks and solutions to organize implementation, ensure the right roadmap and progress, and avoid negativity, waste and loss of resources.

Project owners urgently complete and approve projects under the Program; regularly inspect, urge and ensure effective and substantive implementation of the Program.

With high determination and the spirit of "only discussing, not retreating," the Prime Minister requested the Ministry of Public Security to focus on directing efforts to strive to achieve the target of 20% of communes, wards, and special zones being "drug-free" by 2025 and by the end of 2030 at least 50% of commune-level administrative units nationwide being "drug-free," with 15-20% of provinces and cities being drug-free.

With the requirement of "3 reductions, 3 increases" (reducing supply, reducing demand, reducing harm; increasing legal effectiveness, increasing investment resources, increasing smart governance in drug prevention and control), Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh requested localities to focus on investing in drug rehabilitation facilities, not leaving addicts without a place to rehab. The Ministry of Public Security shall preside over and coordinate with the Ministry of Health and localities to assess the need to upgrade, repair, and equip drug rehabilitation facilities, apply science and technology in managing and monitoring drug addicts, and soon deploy a model of smart drug rehabilitation facilities.

Along with that, there are mechanisms and policies to attract human resources to work at drug rehabilitation facilities, especially medical staff serving in counseling and treatment, and specialized staff to teach culture, politics, law, and vocational training to drug addicts; synchronously implement vocational training solutions, preferential credit policies, loans, participate in social work, and support people after drug rehabilitation.

The Prime Minister directed to review and fully detect drug addicts and illegal drug users to have measures to manage, handle, and strictly manage conditional business establishments, not to let drug use spots form; build models of "Drug-free schools, educational and training facilities," "Drug-free neighborhoods." In particular, specialized forces continue to resolutely fight, dismantle, and eradicate drug trafficking and transportation networks from abroad into Vietnam, severing the "supply-demand" relationship.

Strengthen communication to build the movement "All people participate in drug prevention and control", create a movement and trend of drug prevention and control with the message "Each citizen is a soldier, each family is a battlefield, each locality is a fortress in drug prevention and control" so that people condemn and do not accept the existence of drug crimes and evils, inform and denounce drug criminals to the police force; promote the role of organizations, especially war veterans and former people's police officers, in detecting and managing drug addicts...

To ensure investment resources for the Program, the Prime Minister assigned the Ministry of Finance to coordinate with the Ministry of Public Security and relevant ministries and branches to urgently allocate funds to implement the Program from the beginning of 2026, prioritizing key and complicated drug-related areas; areas with difficult socio-economic conditions, ethnic minority and mountainous areas and urgent tasks...

Localities prioritize investment resources and allocate funds to support the implementation of the Program, integrating it with socio-economic development programs in the area, making the most of available resources, using them effectively, avoiding dispersion and waste.

Noting the implementation of the Program in some localities such as Dien Bien, Nghe An and Tay Ninh, as well as responding to recommendations from ministries, branches and localities, the Prime Minister requested that immediately after this Conference, ministries, branches and localities urgently organize the dissemination and dissemination of the Program's content to all cadres, party members and people of all walks of life; organize implementation with a spirit of innovation and creativity, suitable to the conditions and circumstances of each unit and locality.

With the strong participation of the entire political system, determination and drastic direction and management of ministries, branches and localities, the Prime Minister believes that the National Target Program on Drug Prevention and Control by 2030 will be implemented drastically, synchronously and effectively, contributing positively to the task of protecting national security, ensuring social order and safety, serving comprehensive and sustainable socio-economic development, bringing the country firmly into a new era./.

(TTXVN/Vietnam+)

Source: https://www.vietnamplus.vn/thu-tuong-pham-minh-chinh-phong-chong-ma-tuy-la-nhiem-vu-cap-bach-post1069171.vnp