29 Nov 2017 13:57

Int'l parliamentary conference in Moscow to adopt declaration on anti-drug laws' unification -Duma deputy Slutsky

MOSCOW. Nov 29 (Interfax) - The first international parliamentary anti-drug conference due to take place on December 4 will adopt a Moscow declaration, which will lay a foundation for unifying national anti-drug laws, State Duma Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Leonid Slutsky told reporters on Wednesday.

"The so-called Moscow declaration will be adopted at the end [of the conference] to lay a foundation for the parliamentary dimension, the parliamentary component of the international war on drugs for years to come," Slutsky said.

'There are plans to unify national laws," Slutsky said. "Work is already being done on various international platforms; some model laws have been adopted but they practically never reach the level of national parliaments," he said.

The conference will be unprecedented, Slutsky said. "The world has never had such a representative conference before; it will bring together high-level representatives of dozens of parliamentary delegations to fight drugs, drug abuse, and drug trafficking," he said.

"The purpose of the first international conference, which is practically universal because it will gather together the representatives of all continents, is to give global anti-drug cooperation a parliamentary dimension," Slutsky said.

Conditions have matured for pooling the efforts of all countries' parliamentarians, unifying national laws, and endorsing stricter legislation, which will suppress drug abuse and drug trafficking and people's involvement in the drug business, Slutsky said.

The conference will be attended by six speakers and 12 deputy speakers of foreign parliaments, he said.

According to the head of the United Russia faction in the State Duma, Sergei Neverov, the conference will be attended by about 500 delegates from 44 countries.