A regional workshop on the problems of the spread of new psychoactive substances was organized by the Central Asia Drug Action Programme (CADAP) and the EU Action against Drugs and Organized Crime, projects funded by the European Union, in the period from October 24 to 26, 2018 in CARICC.
Attending the event were representatives of the Ministries of Internal Affairs, Ministries of Health, Forensic Examination Centers and other interested state structures of Belgium, Hungary, the Republic of Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic, Poland, the Republic of Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, the Republic of Uzbekistan, the Czech Republic, and Estonia. The seminar was also attended by leaders and experts from international organizations, such as the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), the European Monitoring Center for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA), the European Union’s Judicial Cooperation Unit (Eurojust), United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, CADAP, EU-ACT, and CARICC.
Threats posed by new psychoactive substances for the States of Central Asia, as well as the response of European structures to this phenomenon were considered at this workshop.
During three days of the workshop, the participants discussed a number of problems related to synthetic drugs, precursors and NPS, current trends, types of substances distributed, tactics used in their production and smuggling, sales, as well as the risks and consequences of their use.
Also, during work sessions representatives of the EMCDDA and Eurojust presented solutions for collecting information, monitoring prevalence trends. The participants discussed measures taken by law enforcement agencies: from detainment by customs officers, detection of substances and identification of their properties by patrol officers to investigation methods and sale of NPS via the Internet.
Towards the closure of the event, the participants endorsed relevant recommendations.

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