PM DECLARES WAR ON DRUG CRIMES

HA NOI -- Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung has asked ministries,
offices and People's Committees in cities and provinces to launch a
crackdown on drug crime.

The five-month crackdown will last from May 29 to September 26, under
the Prime Minister's order.

Dung has granted authority to the Ministry of Public Security, in
collaboration with the Ministry of National Defence, the Ministry of
Finance and city and provincial people's committees, to direct the
anti-drug campaign in an attempt to suppress drug crime in key areas
like the borders and the coast.

The move aims at discovering and razing rings involved in the
transportation, trade and illegal use of drugs.

The Prime Minister also ordered the aforementioned agencies to
maintain accurate information on the number of drug traffickers and
users living in detention centres and in society.

The Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs has been asked to
implement measures to help drug users detoxify while addressing
post-detoxification issues reported by individuals who have returned
to communities.

Dung asked the Ministry of Health to step up research and apply
medical methods to help keep drug abusers substance-free.

The Ministry of Education and Training, in collaboration with the Ho
Chi Minh Central Communist Youth Union, was asked to take
responsibility for strengthening measures to disseminate information,
particularly to educate young people about preventing drug abuse.

The Prime Minister also called on the Ministry of Agriculture and
Rural Development to co-ordinate with relevant agencies to instruct
the inspection and destruction of fields of cannabis and other narcotics.

People's Committees across the nation have been asked to instruct the
crackdown on drug crime at restaurants, hotels, bars and other facilities.

Dung requested that the Viet Nam Fatherland Front and its member
organisations consider the anti-drug campaign as their key task.
People are encouraged to work toward the ideal of all residential
areas being free from drugs and other destructive practices.