The American University in Baghdad hosted an important conference on combating drugs and Captagon in cooperation with the Iraqi government and the British Embassy in Iraq. The conference was attended by the Minister of State for Security of the United Kingdom and a number of representatives of diplomatic missions, international organizations, and civil society organizations. There was a distinguished presence of many representatives of the Iraqi Republic from the Iraqi Parliament, the Council of Ministers, the Supreme Judicial Council, and the Ministry of Interior.
The Vice President for Institutional Development at the AUIB, Dr. Jason Ketter, welcomed the guests on campus, expressing the importance of this conference, which sheds light on the harms of drug abuse and Captagon and the negative impact it has on societies. Dr. Ketter said, “Drug abuse and addiction is a wicked problem, A wicked problem is best described as a problem when designing solutions involves multiple stakeholders and there is no one simple solution.”
the Minister of State for Security of the United Kingdom, Tom Tugendhat said, “We now have a deeply concerning issue posed by the regional narcotics trade which I would like to discuss today, We have the inauspicious title of Europe’s leading heroin market and the highest number of heroin deaths.” Minister Tugendhat added, ” The full effects of the drug itself are not yet understood, not least because its components can vary widely”. Minister Tugendhat also expressed the UK’s commitment to stand with Iraq in the fight against drugs and to provide support in this regard.
In this regard, the AUIB has been launching awareness campaigns about the dangers of drugs since July of this year, where university students play an important role in this campaign by educating young people outside the campus and their effective role in combating drugs and their harms. A class of young people who can become something better in the future. The university is committed to raising awareness, education and finding solutions to this problem that may affect Iraqi youth.