Theoretical, administrative and criminal legal ambushes against drugs and alcohol in everyday minds: foreign evidence and comparative analysis
Author(s): Viktoriia Pylypenko*, Anna Maslova, Viktoriia Holubieva, Anton Mariienko and Vitalii Kapuliak
Abstract
Aim: The purpose of this article is to investigate the theoretical and legal issues in the fight against drugs and alcohol, analyze foreign data on legal regulation in this area and assess the possibilities of its adaptation to Ukrainian ones realities.
Methods: The methodological basis of the study is a complex of general scientific and special legal methods, which allowed a comprehensive analysis of the theoretical, administrative and criminal law principles of combating drugs and alcohol use in modern conditions, as well as a comparative analysis of foreign experience. The dialectical method was used to identify the relationship between the social, legal and criminological aspects of combating drug addiction and alcoholism. The system-structural approach made it possible to consider the mechanism of combating drugs and alcohol as a complex system that includes legal, administrative, criminal law and social and preventive elements.
Results: The main directions for the development of this area are as follows: Legislative improvement and harmonization with international standards. It is necessary to strengthen responsibility for organized drug business and illicit trafficking, while expanding prevention and resocialization mechanisms. It is important to bring national legislation into line with the UN conventions on drugs and the recommendations of the WHO and the Council of Europe; development of prevention programs. The emphasis should be on forming a culture of a healthy lifestyle among young people, implementing educational programs in schools and higher education institutions, conducting information campaigns to reduce the demand for drugs and alcohol; expanding the system of treatment and rehabilitation of addicted persons. It is necessary to create modern treatment and resocialization centers, implement substitution therapy programs, and ensure accessibility of medical care for all segments of the population, in particular for vulnerable groups.
Conclusion: Legal regulation in the field of combating drugs and alcohol use should combine repressive and social measures. Foreign experience proves that only a comprehensive policy-from prevention and restriction of access to rehabilitation and resocialization-can give positive results. For Ukraine, the use of comparative analysis is relevant to form a modern model that will meet international standards and national realities. Counteracting drugs and alcohol abuse in modern conditions requires a comprehensive approach that combines repressive, preventive and medical and social measures. A one-sided focus only on punishment or only on liberalization does not provide effective control over the circulation of prohibited substances and does not reduce the social and medical consequences of addictions.
