DRUGS MARKET MUST BE CONTROLLED BY THE STATE

Recently an international conference was initiated in Rome by Italian Parliament and Transnational radical party. The conference was devoted to expediency of abolition of UN Convention on prohibition of illegal drugs' conversion. Reports of specialists from USA, Canada, and European countries were submitted at the conference. Master of medicine, first deputy chairman of National President's Committee on struggle with AIDS Valeri IVASIUK has submitted his report too. His information about drugs' expansion in Ukraine, drugs mafia, state measures against it, and the problem of AIDS and drugs attracted attention of audience.

Extract of interview of Valeri Petrovich Ivasiuk to I. Kirichenko, journalist of "Nezavisimost" newspaper.

"Special body -- National State Coordination Council of Ukrainian Minister Cabinet on struggle against drugs -- was founded in Ukraine. We receive reliable information about drugs' circulation in the country. Today about five thousand Ukrainian citizens use drugs in any forms -- that is so called "concealed" drug addiction. Officially, about 54.4 thousand drug addicts were registered by Ministry of Interior Affairs. Unfortunately, the majority is latent for registration.

Finding methods of weaning man from drugs is a state problem. If drugs' conversion is under state control, drugs business is out of question, while drugs mafia is interested in bodies of prohibition of drugs' circulation. Conference in Rome has elucidated tendency: number of drug addicts decreases in countries where drugs circulation was allowed. As well, drugs business takes away lives of people who struggle against it and competitors. Of course, we must not just simply take over experience of Western states without consideration of our conditions. It is rather early to take such measures: we must have a high-cultured society. And control is farther difficult than so called prohibition measures.

Owing to political and social causes, Ukraine is at the beginning of drugs' evolution. That is why our community and state have their chance to stop that evolution by creative study of world experience of struggle against drugs mafia and preventive measures against drug addiction. That is the action that we must not grudge money for.

Translated into English by A.Prishchenko, 25/10/94