Media Center

Press Advisory


OAS CICAD 46 TO HOST PRESS CONFERENCE IN MIAMI

  November 17, 2009

Drug control experts and top U.S. Government Officials will speak at a press conference this Thursday, November 19, during the Forty-Sixth Regular Session of the Inter-American Drug Abuse Control Commission (CICAD 46) of the Organization of American States (OAS), taking place Nov. 18-20 in Miami, Florida.

Speakers at the press conference will be David Johnson, U.S. Department of State Assistant Secretary for Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs; Chandrikapersad Santokhi, Surinamese Minister of Justice and Police; and A. Thomas McLellan, White House Office of National Drug Abuse Policy Deputy Director, and CICAD 46 keynote speaker. Johnson, Santokhi and McLellan will deliver short introductory remarks before taking questions from the press.

The press conference will be held at 11:45 a.m. at the Hilton Miami Downtown Hotel, 1601 Biscayne Boulevard. Journalists should bring their media credentials and sign in before being directed to the press conference venue. They must set up by 11:30 a.m.
“Drug Prevention, Treatment and Re-Integration” is the theme of CICAD 46, which includes a visit to a Miami Drug Court. The United States is nominated to chair the CICAD for the first time in the Commission’s 23-year history.

The CICAD was established by the Organization of American States General Assembly in 1986 as the Western Hemisphere's policy forum on all aspects of the drug problem. Its mission is to strengthen the human and institutional capacities of its member states to reduce the production, trafficking and use of illegal drugs, and to address the health, social and criminal consequences of the drug trade.

WHAT: CICAD 46 Press Conference

WHEN: 11:45 a.m., Thursday, November 19

WHERE: Hilton Miami Downtown Hotel, 1601 Biscayne Blvd.

Reference: AVI-091/09