TUNIS, Nov 23:  The 38th Arab conference for chiefs of anti-narcotics apparatuses and the second meeting grouping the departments for fighting drugs and health ministries concluded on Friday. The meetings lasted for three days and were organized by the Secretariat General of the Arab Interior Council at its headquarters, in collaboration with the UN Office on Drugs and Crimes — the regional office of the Middle East and North Africa — with participation by representatives of the Arab interior ministries including that of Kuwait, along with the Arab League, the Gulf Cooperation Council and the International Criminal Police (the Interpol). The Secretariat General of the Arab Interior Council said in a statement that the conference called for boosting pan-Arab cooperation and coordination in the face of narcotics, and amphetamines, and tackling their impact on the Arab communities.

The participants in the meetings acclaimed a plan for enhancing the “capacity of the council” and the member states in fighting the global drugs issue, with emphasis on synthetic narcotics. They also applauded, according to the statement, Interpol's role in combating drugs in the region and the world, and asked the Secretariat General to cooperate with the stakeholders namely the European Union at this level. Moreover, the convention urged the member states to revamp their plans and strategies to foresee the traffickers’ schemes, with consideration that some states have legalized the usage of the ‘controversial prescriptions’ for medicinal purposes. It also called on the member states to coordinate with international conventions and study activities undertaken by the Regional Expertise Center for Combating Drugs and Crime -- established by Naif University for Security Sciences and cooperate with the UN office to overhaul the Arab security apparatuses’ potentials. Furthermore, the conference's final statement called for boosting the instant swap of data regarding narcotics and mental medicines among the relevant Arab apparatuses. The State of Kuwait took part in the conference with a delegation including the Director General of the Narcotics Department Brigadier General Mohammad Mustafa Qabazard, the head of the Arab Cooperation Division Jurist Brig. Gen. Mohammad Khaled Al-Rabie, Director of the Local Department for Combating Drugs Jurist Colonel Hisham Walid Al-Ibrahim, Assistant Undersecretary for Supervision of Medicines Ahmad Mnawer Al-Saeed, Director of Kuwait Center for Treating Addiction Dr. Hussein Hmayed Al-Shatti, the head of the Department for Drugs Permits Ali Abdulhussein Jrakh.  (KUNA)