MINSK, 28 June (BelTA) – The Council of Europe Cooperation Group to Combat Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking in Drugs (the Pompidou Group) will hold a conference in Minsk on 29 June, BelTA learned from the Belarusian Interior Ministry.
“The conference will be hosted by the International Training Center for Migration and Combating Trafficking in Human Beings of the Academy of the Interior Ministry. The event will bring together international experts and heads of the relevant units of the Belarusian Interior Ministry,” the ministry said.
The conference will discuss the general drug situation in Europe, drug control policy, and the emergence of new psychoactive substances on the European market. The agenda also includes items related to rehabilitation and social adaptation of drug users and people released from prisons and also prevention of drug use among youth. Special attention will be paid to new challenges facing legislative and law enforcement agencies, such as online drug sales, new methods of drug distribution, and virtual money.
The Pompidou Group was set up in 1971 at the initiative of French President Georges Pompidou. In 1980, the group was incorporated into the institutional framework of the Council of Europe. It serves as a platform for coordinating the drug combating activities at the EU level. The group comprises 36 countries.
