On June 11, 2021, the Ministry of Health of Ukraine hosted a meeting of the Interdepartmental Working Group (IWG) on the development of the State Drug Policy Strategy for the period up to 2030, which was attended by Larysa Oliinyk, Senior Forensic Expert of the Kyiv Scientific Research Institute of Forensic Expertise.
Representatives of state authorities of Ukraine, international and public organizations also took part in the work of the IWG.
The purpose of the group meeting was:
- elaboration of the submitted remarks and proposals received by the Ministry of Health based on the results of the public discussion of the relevant draft order of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine;
- informing the group members about the stage of development of an adapted clinical protocol of medical care on the topic “Mental and behavioral disorders due to the use of stimulants and new psychoactive substances other than opioids”;
- approval by the IWG members of the draft order of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine “On approval of the Strategy of the state drug policy until 2030”, and its sending to the central executive bodies.
The draft order of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine “On approval of the Strategy of State Drug Policy until 2030” was published on the official website of the Ministry of Health of Ukraine on May 18, 2021.
According to the document, the following strategic priorities are envisaged:
- prevention of the use of psychoactive substances, without medical indications, and raising public awareness (prevention of abuse, raising awareness of the harmful effects of drugs);
- increasing the level of public safety (focus on combating organized drug crime, money laundering and intensifying the detection of channels of illicit trafficking in narcotic drugs, psychotropic substances, and precursors);
- cessation of illegal manufacture, production, and processing of narcotic drugs, psychotropic substances, and precursors;
- ensuring access to the necessary preventive measures and effective methods of treatment of persons with mental and behavioral disorders due to the use of psychoactive substances;
- implementation of effective measures to reduce the risk and harm to the health of persons with mental and behavioral disorders due to the use of psychoactive substances;
- ensuring the rights to treatment and prevention of persons with mental and behavioral disorders due to the use of psychoactive substances, which are in penitentiaries and pre-trial detention centers of the State Penitentiary Service;
- improvement of normative legal acts of Ukraine by developing, coordinating, and making changes necessary for effective implementation of the tasks defined by this Strategy.
