The National Office for the Fight against Drugs and Drug Addiction (ONLCDT) announced the day before this Friday that Algeria had recently organized, in Vienna, a seminar on the sidelines of the 69th session of the United Nations Commission on Narcotic Drugs (CND), focusing on the risks linked to hybrid cannabis, described as a growing threat to public health and national security. This was stated in a press release issued by the Office.
Held under the theme “Hybrid cannabis: a growing danger to public health and national security,” the meeting was part of Algeria’s participation in the work of the Commission’s session, held from 9 to 13 March in the Austrian capital. The Algerian delegation, made up of several sectors, was led by Ambassador Larbi Latrèche, Algeria’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations in Vienna.
Opened by Ambassador Latrèche, the event brought together numerous ambassadors, foreign diplomats and members of the delegations taking part in the Commission’s work, as well as representatives of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and the International Narcotics Control Board (INCB). According to the same source, experts working under the supervision of the ONLCDT, from the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of Health and the National Gendarmerie, delivered specialized presentations highlighting the findings of laboratory analyses carried out on cannabis smuggled into Algeria via its western borders.
These analyses showed a steady increase in the level of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the main psychoactive compound in cannabis, making these products particularly dangerous in terms of addiction and their harmful impact on mental and physical health, especially among young people, who are the main consumers, the press release noted.
Still according to the ONLCDT, the presentations also underlined the security implications of the spread of hybrid cannabis, warning about its impact on public order and safety. Participants therefore stressed the importance of a comprehensive national mobilization in the face of the evolving methods of drug-trafficking networks, accused of seeking to flood the national territory with this lethal drug.
Speakers outlined the integrated response adopted by public authorities and security services, combining, in their words, coercive action, prevention, medical care, treatment and reintegration programmes. This approach, it was pointed out, forms part of the national strategy for preventing narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances for 2025–2029, adopted in April 2025 in line with the guidelines of the President of the Republic, Abdelmadjid Tebboune.
According to the press release, the session also saw the establishment of a multilateral expert group tasked with developing recommendations to strengthen the implementation of international commitments on drug control. An Algerian expert was selected to represent the African continent within this multilateral expert group of the CND, in recognition of Algeria’s role in international cooperation and drug prevention, the same source added.