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The Government of the Republic of Serbia

In the service of citizens

Strengthening preventive programmes for suppressing drug abuse in minors

Belgrade, 14 June 2012

Assistant Minister of Health Petar Bulat today warned that the number of underage drug users in Serbia, as well as in the entire southeast European region, is increasing.

Speaking at a press conference, on the occasion of a two-day meeting themed “Support to developing minimum standards for treating underage drug addicts”, Bulat stressed that underage drug abuse is often related to family problems, which is why special attention must be paid to taking care of the family and strengthening preventive programmes.

He noted that the focus must also be on programmes for treating underage drug users, as well as boosting the capacity and forming services to tackle the issue of drug abuse in minors.

The Assistant Minister recalled that Serbia is a member of the Council of Europe’s Pompidou Group, a multidisciplinary forum which enables an exchange of ideas, experiences and information related to drug abuse and drug trade at an international level. Director of the Serbian public health institute Dr Milan Jovanovic Batut Tanja Knezevic stressed that drug abuse is one of the leading problems of contemporary society.

Knezevic observed that according to the UNDOC’s assessments, 205 million people used one or the other kind of drugs in 2010, while 25 million were addicted to drugs.

Member of the state expert commission for fighting drug abuse Svetislav Mitrovic specified that underage persons most commonly consume alcohol, marijuana, sedatives, cocaine, LSD, heroin and amphetamines, adding that the fact that they often mix these substances is very disturbing.

Executive Secretary of the Council of Europe’s Pompidou Group Patrick Penninckx said that special emphasis should be placed on prevention in order to make it more difficult for children and young people to come into contact with drugs.