Algeria/Blida: raising awareness to combat the proliferation of drugs

Published on 27/05/2023 | La rédaction

Algeria

Participants in a study day on the fight against the proliferation of drugs and psychotropic substances stressed on Wednesday in Blida the need to step up awareness-raising efforts to tackle this dangerous phenomenon.

Speakers at the meeting, organized by the Blida court, stressed the need to step up awareness-raising and information campaigns by the various authorities, associations and the press, to promote the culture of reporting this type of crime.rentes instances, associations and the press to promote the culture of reporting this type of crime, as stipulated by law no. 05-23 of May 7, 2023, amending and supplementing law no. 04-18 of 12/25/2004.

After noting that the old law 04-18 "has been largely overtaken by reality on the ground", characterizedthe emergence of new types of psychotropic substances not classified as narcotics, the Algerian legislator hastened to fill this gap.legislator hastened to fill this void by enacting new laws and provisions adapted to the current context and materialized by the law of May 7, 2023 on the fight against drugs and psychotropic substances, explained the President of the Court of Blida, Mohamed Regad.

He also pointed out that this law introduces numerous preventive and therapeutic measures before dissuasive measures, by "not considering the person consuming narcotics or psychotropic substances as a criminal, but rather as an intoxicated person in need of treatment".rather as an intoxicated person in need of medical and psychosocial care, accompanied by regular monitoring for up to two years to prevent relapse".

Abdelmadjid Djebari, Public Prosecutor at the Court of Blida, reviewed the legal guarantees enshrined in the new law to protect "informants" from drug-related crimes before they occur.He called for a culture of "reporting and denunciation" of this type of crime, as "no-one is safe from the dangers of this phenomenon".

He also deplored the exacerbation of the phenomenon of drugs and psychotropic substances "coming from abroad", pointing to the seizure, inIn 2021 and 2022, more than 11 million psychotropic tablets will be seized, along with large quantities of cannabis, cocaine and heroin. "A fact which proves that Algeria is dangerously threatened", he said.

Fouzia Benali, Chamber President at the Blida Court, spoke of the preventive and therapeutic aspects of the law, in particular through the strengthening of the role of theOffice national de lutte contre les drogues et la toxicomanie, the development of a national narcotics prevention policy and the strengthening of the role of civil society, authorities, the media and mosques.

In addition, the Ministry of Health is developing a national electronic file of medical prescriptions, to be made available to magistrates, as well as setting up more treatment centers for drug addicts.

Mehdi Rezigui, Senior Police Officer at Blida's Wilaya Sûreté, spoke of the penalties laid down in the new law, which can reach 30 years for every employee in state institutions, health professionals and/or pharmacists exploiting their position to traffic in these prohibited products.

In addition, anyone attempting to obtain these substances by threatening or using violence against the pharmacist will be liable to between one and three years' imprisonment, according to the senior police officer at Blida's wilaya police station.

The wali of Blida, Ahmed Mabed, insisted on the need to involve everyone in the fight against this scourge, underlining that this "threatens 15 million young people, including schoolchildren, university students and vocational training trainees, who are being targeted by foreign parties in a bid to reach Algeria's lifeblood".

Source: www.aps.dz


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