This was announced at a videoconference meeting held on January 27 at the Detention Administration under the Tashkent City Department of Internal Affairs, chaired by the President. It was noted that the Youth Affairs Agency, the Ministries of Preschool and School Education, and Higher Education, Science and Innovation will each have a separate deputy responsible for this direction.
According to information, last year, over 1.5 thousand individuals who had turned to drug addiction were officially registered in the capital. The number of unofficial, "shadow" drug addicts is even higher, with the majority of them being young people. It was noted that one drug addict spends an average of 20–25 million soums per month on drugs.
As the President emphasized, drug addiction is considered one of the main factors leading to crime. Therefore, starting this year, the mass use of narcotics express tests will be introduced. Furthermore, one of the deputies of regional governors, university rectors, and technical school and school directors will be appointed as responsible for this direction.
In addition, it was noted that the treatment of drug addicts requires at least four months. In this regard, the task was given to develop a draft resolution on providing narcological services to the population on the basis of private partnership.
