On 21.02 – 23.02.2023, a seminar for Ministry of Interior officers working in the field of drugs was held in Arbanasi. Representatives from the National Focal Point on Drugs and Drug Addictions were also invited. Aleksandar Panayotov presented the public information system in the field of drugs and drug addictions, and Prof. Sonia Chipeva introduced the participants to the CAPTURE – RECAPTURE method for assessing problem drug users and the potential for the Ministry of Interior to be a source of data when implementing the method. Based on this, the possibilities for cooperation regarding the exchange of information on drug users involved in criminal activities were discussed.
Other topics covered at the seminar:
- Report and analysis of the results achieved in the field of drugs by the Regional Directorates of Ministry of Interior in the country in 2023.
- New trends in the production of narcotic substances and precursors.
- Control to establish the use of narcotic substances by motor vehicle drivers. Signs, factors, specifics for identifying offenders. Good practices and elimination of weaknesses.
- Good and bad practices in carrying out actions in the investigation of drug-related crimes (possession, production, distribution, cultivation of narcotic substances).
- Basic aspects in the preparation of physicochemical expertise for the analysis of narcotic substances and illegal laboratories.
- Overview of the regulatory framework regarding the licensing regime for plants of the hemp (cannabis) species, intended for fibre, seeds for fodder, food and sowing, with a content of less than 0.3% by weight of THC, determined in the leaf mass, flowering and fruiting tips, for trade and control.
- Nitrous oxide (“laughing gas”). Legal framework, use, effects, coordination between individual government bodies to substance abuse reduction.
