INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON NARCOTICS HELD IN TAJIKISTAN.

DUSHANBE, January 15 (Itar-Tass) - An international conference "Tajikistan
without Drugs" was held in Dushanbe on Friday and attended by Tajik
President Emomali Rakhmonov, diplomats and staffers of international
organizations. In the words of the president, he is dissatisfied by measures
against the illicit trafficking of narcotic drugs in the republic.

Rakhmonov strongly criticized several ministries and departments, including
the Health Ministry, for paying little attention to joint international
programs. Another reason for the wide-spread of narcotic drugs is the
"absolute chaos" in the storage of narcotic and psychotropic substances by
private companies, the president said. The control over the illicit
transportation of narcotic drugs from the republic by car, air or railroad
is weak.

In the words of the president, about one ton of various drugs is shipped
from border zones of Afghanistan to Tajikistan every day. He thinks that the
solution of the Afghan problem is an extremely important condition of a
successful fight against the drug spread. The neglect of that factor can
have catastrophic consequences because the warring sides mount the drug
trafficking to replenish their arms arsenals.

"A safety belt" around Afghanistan can help lower the transportation of
narcotics from that country, Regional Director of the U.N. program of
international drug control Bogdan Lisovich said at the conference.