The First Global Meth Conference will be held September 2008

On Monday, September 15th and Tuesday, September 16th, 2008, the world’s first global conference on Methamphetamine will take place in the Czech Republic in Prague’s Historic City Hall. The Conference will gather together experts from the USA, China, Australia, Thailand, Russia, Canada, Mexico, South Africa, New Zealand, Indonesia, Poland, Iran, Serbia, Ukraine, Czech Republic, Great Britain and the United Nations in an effort to find ways to better understand the complex problems that nations around the world are facing because of methamphetamine.

‘The largest areas of methamphetamine production are South East Asia, including Myanmar, China and the Philippines, and in North America. Australia and New Zealand continue to produce significant amounts of methamphetamine. It is believed that large-scale production will soon start in areas of Central America and Africa.’ (United Nations World Drug Report 2007)

“More individuals worldwide now use stimulants than opiates and cocaine combined. Methamphetamine is the most widely used illicit drug in the world except for cannabis. Over 26 million individuals used amphetamine-type stimulants in 2006.” – United Nations Office of Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and the World Health Organization (WHO)

Who will attend the Global Meth Conference?

Among those who who will attend the conference will be representatives from law enforcement, science, education, researchers, and others concerned with the meth problem that plagues so many nations in the world today.

Speakers from the USA, China, Australia, Thailand, Russia, Canada, Mexico, South Africa, New Zealand, Indonesia, Poland, Iran, Serbia, Ukraine, Czech Republic, Great Britain and the United Nations are scheduled to address attendees on the conference theme of “Science, Strategy, and Response”. The Conference is the first conference ever to pull in experts from around the world to work on the complex problem that meth is causing citizens around the world.

Why are meth experts from around the world meeting?

Experts will meet to discuss and share their ideas and experience about Meth. Some of the topics that will be discussed will include: Meth treatment, Meth related HIV, Meth trafficking, Meth production, Current meth research, Meth policies, Current Meth problems facing each nation, and the environmental impact of meth on countries around the world.

How widespread are meth problems in the world?

Current research shows that methamphetamine use is widespread in North American, Asia, Australia, and New Zealand. India, Pakistan, Eastern Europe, the Russian Federation Sub-Saharan Africa and Western Europe are considered emerging markets for meth or countries that are at risk of having to deal with a future meth problem.

Featured speakers at the Conference will include:

• Apinun Aramrattana, MD, PhD, Faculty of Medicine, Chiang Mai University, Chiang Mai
• Jeremy Douglas. Manager, Global SMART Program, United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, Vienna
• Ahmed Elkashef, M.D. Division of Pharmacotherapies & Medical Consequences, NIDA, Washington, D.C.
• Carl Hart, PhD, Professor, Neuroscience Department of Psychiatry, Columbia University, New York
• Evgeny Krupitsky, MD, PhD, Prof., Bekhterev Research Psychoneurological Institute, St. Petersburg
• Prof. Lin Lu, MD, PhD, Director, National Institute of Drugs and Development, Beijing
• Donald Rothenbaum, Senior Vice President, Network Environmental Systems, San Diego
• Kasia Malinowska-Sempruch, MSW, Director, Open Society’s Institute’s Global Drug Policy Program, Warsaw – Azarakhsh Mokri, MD, Iranian Nation Center for Addiction Studies, Tehran
• Ethan Nadelmann, JD, Executive Director, Drug Policy Alliance, New York
• Caitlin Padgett, Coordinator and Founder of Youth R.I.S.E., Vancouver
• Andreas Plüddemann, Senior Scientist, Alcohol & Drug Abuse Research Unit Medical, Cape Town
• Richard Rawson, PhD, UCLA Integrated Substance Abuse Programs, Los Angeles
• Michael Siever, PhD, Director of The Stonewall Project, San Francisco
• Pavlo Smyrnov, MPH., Deputy Executive Director, International HIV/AIDS Alliance, Kiev
• Alex Wodak, MD, Director, Alcohol and Drug Services Vincent’s Hospital, Sydney
• Chris Wilkins, PhD, Senior Researcher/Drugs Team Leader at SHORE/Whariki, Massey Univ, Auckland
• Gady Zabicky, MD, Centro Nacional para la Prevención y Control del VIH/SIDA, Mexico City
• Tomas Zabransky, MD, PhD, R and D Manager, Centre for Addictology, Charles University, Prague

Media Coverage of the Conference:

The major sessions of the conference are open to reporters. Site visits, photo opportunities and interviews can be arranged. For journalists not traveling to Prague, interviews and briefings with key spokespeople and presenters can be arranged on request.

Sponsors and Partners include: The Czech Republic, Charles University, the City of Prague, Network Environmental Systems, Podane Ruce, Cranstoun Drug Services, Sananim, Institute Scan, Systems, Inc, and The Thorne Group.

Please click here for more information about the conference.