Kazakh State Counselor Karin urges balanced approach to drug policy

The meeting reviewed the draft comprehensive plan to combat drug addiction and drug trafficking for 2026–2028, as well as issues related to youth employment and raising the status of working professions.

The State Counselor noted that members of the Council had conducted an in-depth analysis of the comprehensive plan, studied international best practices, and proposed new systemic and modern methods for preventing and combating drug addiction.

Erlan Karin drew particular attention to the imbalance of responsibility among government agencies when implementing related measures.

In fact, half of the items in the comprehensive plan (52 out of 110) are assigned to the Interior Ministry, while the rest are distributed among other government agencies - such as the Ministry of Health, Ministry of Education, Ministry of Culture and Information, and others. However, in the current version of the plan, almost all performance indicators are linked exclusively to the work of law enforcement agencies.

We must not think that combating drug addiction is solely the responsibility of the Interior Ministry. Fighting drug abuse is a shared effort and shared responsibility. Therefore, the ministries within the social sector must incorporate their own measures aimed at effectively countering drug addiction. In this way, we can balance measures to combat drug trafficking with preventive efforts targeting addiction, said Karin.

The Council’s members, in turn, agreed that the fight against drug abuse should include not only law enforcement efforts, but also preventive measures, the promotion of public health, and should have a systemic character, carried out through joint efforts of government agencies and society.

Several Council members also presented their visions and approaches to addressing issues of youth employment and enhancing the status of working professions.

Following the working meeting, Erlan Karin instructed the relevant government agencies to carefully study and develop the proposals and recommendations made by the members of the Youth Policy Council.

Earlier, it was reported Kazakhstan establishes a republican headquarters for combating drug-related crimes.