Lao Government to Strengthen Anti-Drug Campaign with International Coordination

Source: Vientiane Times

The government is gearing up the implementation of its national agenda on the war against drugs through closer coordination with the relevant sectors and the international community.

This was the message delivered by Prime Minister Sonexay Siphandone to mark International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking on June 26.

At the same time, he reviewed the achievements made under the national agenda in the past three years.

The national agenda seeks to raise public awareness by publicising the laws and regulations and the terrible impact of drugs on users and their families.

The publicity campaign involves the screening of short films, advertisements, songs, slogans, images, brochures, posters, books, and other materials.

These are being circulated among students, other young people and Lao people of all ethnic groups, to inform them of the dangers of drugs. 

The prime minister said drugs are a major problem at the global level, and that many countries are making an all-out effort to curb drug use and the drug trade.
“Drug abuse is a huge problem in Laos and is the cause of violence, crimes and numerous other problems. It is also a threat to national security and has a direct impact on social and economic development,” he said.

PM Sonexay noted that the drug trade is not only a problem in Laos but in many other countries, which are working to suppress the international trade in drugs.
“From 2021-23, the Party and government placed a strong emphasis on the national agenda on drugs and will continue this work until 2025,” he said.

As part of this effort, the government has tried to provide ethnic groups living in mountainous areas with stable occupations as a substitute for the cultivation of opium poppies, including livestock and vegetable farming on a commercial basis.

In addition, drug addicts have been housed in rehabilitation centres, where they have been given treatment and provided with vocational training before returning to their families.

The government has also attempted to strengthen drug control efforts under the Party’s Three Builds directive, which seeks to turn villages into development units and become drug free communities.

In his message, Dr Sonexay called on people from all walks of life to cooperate in the war on drugs and to support the government’s efforts to make the national agenda on drugs a success, so that drugs can eventually be eradicated from Lao society.