The Albanian Helsinki Committee (AHC) appreciates and encourages efforts in the engagement for and intensification of the coordinated fight of the State Police against the production and trafficking of narcotics as well as cleaning up the infiltrated from police ranks.
In consultation with citizens and in support of some partial data, AHC expresses concern that in recent years, there is inadequate attention to preventing pupils or students or youth in general, who are mostly victims of the use of narcotic substances. The forms of bringing drugs inside Pre-University and University Education Institutions, even at a small extent, have extremely harmful effects.
AHC suggests to police bodies to demonstrate special and continued attention on the above problem because the lack of consequences of measures to follow the situation closely or limitation to only denunciations would not help prevention.
For AHC, this problem is highly sensitive and has harmful consequences; therefore, it requires the undertaking of measures not only when something happens, but also better coordination and sensitization in order to educate the younger generation to not be deceived and fall prey to persons implicated in this criminal activity. In this regard, AHC suggests cooperation between police bodies, parents and teachers/principals of Education Institutions in order to notify on every single case of distribution of narcotic substances and coordinate the undertaking of preventive measures.
For AHC, cooperation with parents and relatives as well as civil society is also necessary. Parents have entrusted teachers and principals of education institutions the education of their children. These institutions have the responsibility to protect youth from this phenomenon, particularly during school hours. They need to convey to the younger generation the values of a society with high ethical-moral and professional virtues.
AHC is also of the opinion that the concerns or data from international organizations regarding the production and trafficking of narcotic substances in Albania, such as the highlighting of this problem in the CIA report published in the media in recent days, should be assessed.