Forum on Drugs urge tightened control on precursor chemicals

Participants at the eighth International Hemaya Forum on Drugs on Wednesday called the United Nations agencies and international customs bodies to hold more meetings and conduct more training courses for customs, health, educational and law enforcement inspectors. They also called for integrating procedures to control precursor chemicals into educational curricula and urged the legislative bodies of Arab states to provide legislations and laws to incriminate smugglers of these materials. The forum also urged anti-drug bodies of Arab states to set up specialized units to control these materials to prevent abuse. The two-day forum which concluded today discussed the issue of precursors and essential chemicals in light of the increasing global demand and the rise in consumption of synthetic drugs, which are closely associated with the precursor chemicals. The meeting was organized by the Dubai Police in cooperation with the Arab Bureau for Drugs, the Council of Arab Interior Ministers, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime for the GCC is being held under the theme ?Precursor chemicals: Issues and control mechanisms between reality and ambition'. Precursor chemicals are used in manufacturing perfumes, paints, cosmetics, chemicals and plastics but they are used in the illicit manufacture of narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances.