Determinants of crimes committed by members of criminal organizations in the sphere of circulation of narcotic drugs, psychotropic substances, their analogues and precursors

The article, based on the study of judicial practice and scientific literature, examines the determinants of crimes committed by members of criminal organizations in the sphere of circulation of narcotic drugs, psychotropic substances, their analogues and precursors. According to the results of the study, it was established that the actions of members of criminal organizations in the sphere of circulation of narcotic drugs, psychotropic substances, their analogues and precursors are determined by a complex of numerous factors, in particular: socio-economic (low level of socio-economic security of part of the population), moral and psychological (moral degradation of a certain part of society, its positive attitude to the use of prohibited substances, to the possibility of quick enrichment through violation of moral and legal norms), medical (drug addiction), socio-political (corruption, lack of a State strategy for drug policy in Ukraine), organizational and managerial (lack of forces, means and tools for combating these crimes, ineffectiveness of pre­trial investigation and trial in relevant criminal proceedings, low level of professionalism of some of the specified employees, difficulties of proving organized drug business operating on the Internet, problems of bringing these subjects to criminal responsibility), legal (imperfect grounds for criminal liability of members of organized criminal associations; shortcomings of the criminal procedural legislation, which determines the procedure for detection, pre-trial investigation and trial of criminal offenses, which allow the prosecution to complicate these processes; the system of punishments for committing them, as well as the system of execution and serving of such punishments, is ineffective).