12:31,

YEREVAN, APRIL 25, ARMENPRESS. A senior Member of Parliament of Armenia is calling for stronger measures in combating drug trafficking which he described to be a national security threat.

“Perhaps we don’t fully understand the present-day situation in Armenia. We don’t realize that a very serious percentage of teenagers are drug addicts,” MP Armen Khachatryan, the Deputy Chairman of the Parliamentary Committee on Defense and Security Affairs warned at a parliament session.

“We don’t realize that this poses a serious national security risk. And our reforms, laws, words about the bright future would be in vain if drugs were to continue spreading at this rate. We don’t realize that this is a lot more dangerous and worse than the coronavirus [pandemic],” he said.

He called for stronger measures in combating drug trafficking.

The lawmaker even suggested introducing a new employment regulation in the public sector, requiring employees to pass a drug test once or twice a year or face termination in case of refusing to do so.

Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs Arpine Sargsyan told lawmaker that 2023 is a year of combating drug trafficking.