Bém: Moving anti-drug policy could lead to collapse of the addiction prevention system

National anti-drug coordinator Pavel Bém does not consider the planned transfer of anti-drug policy from the Government Office to the Health Ministry a good idea. He says it could lead to an epidemic of new synthetic drugs, a fentanyl crisis, rising illness and deaths.

“The healthcare sector cannot manage the security agenda and law enforcement under the Interior Ministry, just as it cannot oversee the fiscal impacts of regulating or not regulating gambling, alcohol or tobacco, which fall under the responsibility of Finance Minister Alena Schillerová,” Bém said in a statement.

The Government Office has overseen anti-drug policy since the turn of 1993 and 1994, when responsibility was transferred from the Interior Ministry. Several attempts to relocate the agenda have appeared in the past, but the plans were abandoned after discussions with experts. Bém noted that this time the decision was made without prior consultation with specialists.