LEGAL ASPECTS OF DIVISION INTO NARCOTIC DRUGS, PSYCHOTROPIC SUBSTANCES, THEIR PRECURSORS, ANALOGUES

The article examines the genesis and current legal regulation of circulation of narcotic drugs, psychotropic substances, their precursors and analogues in criminal law and legislation regulating circulation of the said substances in legitimate types of activity. The article analyzes similarities and differences in the relevant industry regulations, highlights some of their non-obvious gaps and contradictions, and outlines possible areas for improvement. It is concluded that there are no fundamental obstacles to unification of the rules for circulation of the listed substances in the Criminal Code of the Republic of Belarus. It is also shown that in the legislation regulating circulation of the said substances in legitimate types of activity, various legal regimes are implemented mainly by dividing the substances into lists; classification into narcotic drugs, psychotropic substances, their precursors and analogues has no independent meaning. Based on this, the author comes to the conclusion that from a legal point of view, division into narcotic drugs, psychotropic substances, their precursors and analogues is not fully justified and lexically redundant. It is proposed to use a single term “drugs” to designate them in regulatory legal acts, covering the entire range of substances subject to state control. The logical basis for this approach is the internal integrity of the given concept.