The City of Vilnius last week sponsored a two-day international conference entitled "AIDS and Drug Use: Let's Unify our Response."
Published:
5 October 2000 y., Thursday
The event brought together experts from Lithuania, Latvia, Sweden, the United States as well as hundreds of representatives from many levels of
Lithuanian society and government: police and health officials, educators,
student leaders and politicians.
The main auditorium at the Vilnius Congress Hall was standing room only
for the opening addresses on Sept. 19 - a testament to the importance of
these issues in Lithuania today. In most cases, the speeches themselves
addressed concrete means of attacking the drug problem.
Kornelijus Platelis, Lithuania's minister of education, spoke about the
effect of drug use on schools in the country. "Drugs are affecting mainly
our young people. Drugs are openly sold in schools and underage crime
is increasing," he said.
Platelis advocated increased policing of drug traffickers and dealers in
order to reduce supply as well as working more closely with countries
more experienced in fighting drugs such as the United States, Russia and
Sweden.
While Lithuania was only a hub for the transportation of narcotics just a few short years ago, it is now a nation of drug producers and users, according to Ceslovas Blazys, minister of the interior. Some 21 percent of Lithuania's school-age boys and 9.6 percent of school-age girls experimented with drugs at least once, according to a
survey conducted by the Vilnius Pedagogical Institute in 1999.
Šaltinis:
baltictimes.com
Copying, publishing, announcing any information from the News.lt portal without written permission of News.lt editorial office is prohibited.
The most popular articles
The situation at the public station Czech Television (CT), where some employees have refused to cooperate with the newly-appointed general director, Jiri Hodac, is being investigated by the police
more »
Braving cold, wet weather, Pope John Paul II called for peace in the Middle East during his traditional Christmas appearances at St Peter's Square in the Vatican.
more »
Almost 20 million Americans have used the Internet to find spiritual and religious information, and churches are also benefiting from the communications power of the Web.
more »
LITHUANIANS TURN INTO NATION OF EURO-ENTHUSIASTS
more »
Poland authorities have opened access to archives of the former Polish communist party to historians, Polish media reported Thursday.
more »
Global warming is possibly one of the most serious environmental threats
more »
Demonstrators have taken to the streets of Nice ahead of a European Union summit to demand more social justice.
more »
Polish tourist agencies intend to invite film superstars Harrison Ford, Sandra Bullock and Antonio Banderas to headline an advertising campaign to convince Europeans to spend their holidays in Poland.
more »
Voters resoundingly defeat proposal to slash spending
more »
Deputy chairman of the Liberal Union Arturas Zuokas has replaced his party boss Rolandas Paksas as Vilnius mayor.
more »