The eighth International Hemaya Forum on Drugs, which will start here today in the presence of Lt-General Dhahi Khalfan Tamim, Commander-in-Chief of the Dubai Police, and experts from 16 countries, will focus on precursor chemicals that are essential to the production of a controlled substance.

The forum, being organised by the Dubai Police in cooperation with the Arab Bureau for Drugs, the Council of Arab Interior Ministers, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime for the GCC, will be held under the theme ‘Precursor chemicals: Issues and control mechanisms — between reality and ambition’.

At a Press conference held in the Dubai Police headquarters, Major-General Abdul Rahman Rafi, Director-General of the Department of Community Services, said the two-day forum, which will be held at the Dubai Police Officers Club, will look at issues of chemical precursors and cover legal and economic aspects, training and rehabilitation centres, international cooperation, international experiences and practices.

Maj-Gen Rahman Rafi said the forum chose the issue of precursors and essential chemicals in the light of the increasing global demand and the rise in consumption of synthetic drugs, which are closely associated with the precursor chemicals. He warned that the precursor chemicals have become a major problem because, on one hand, they are used in many industries like automobile and pharmaceutical, and on other hand, they are deadly in the drug industry. Expert Dr Ibrahim Al Dubal, Director and Coordinator of the Hemaya International Programme, said a precursor is now a safer alternative for drug traffickers as they could produce its final form and easily move the chemical product from one country and another.

The main objective of the forum this year is identifying the importance of the precursors, the extent of the contribution of precursors and essential chemicals in the manufacturing of various drugs and the extent of local and international experience in dealing with the precursors, he said.

The forum will also discuss the risks and challenges facing the Arab region due to the increased demand for precursor chemicals and the strategy to combat precursor chemicals.