One of the most serious issues related
to organized crime and corruption for Bulgaria, which
is among CSD's focus areas, is drug trafficking.
The Center is working on establishing partnerships between
NGOs and law-enforcement institutions from Bulgaria,
and the EU countries and the US in this area. In this
context, CSD has co-organized a series of public discussions
with British and Bulgarian experts in anti-drugs policy.
As part of this work the Center with the support of
the British government implemented a project to evaluate
the drugs consumption in Bulgaria. The national survey,
carried out in November and December 2002, provides
a broad picture of the drugs consumption in the country
together with analyzing the various social, economic
and demographic factors involved in substance abuse.
The main purpose of the survey was to foster the cooperation
between experts from state institutions and non-governmental
organizations for joint efforts in countering drugs
consumption and to contribute to the implementation
of Bulgaria's National Anti-Drugs Strategy whose adoption
is part of the process of the EU accession negotiations.
The paper "Drugs Use and Abuse in Bulgaria",
based on the findings of the working group on drugs
consumption and the results of the first national representative
survey will be printed out by the end of 2003.