Forensic Pharmaceutical Studies of the Level of Illicit Trafficking of Psychoactive Substances: Drug Addiction Among Minors and Youth, Consequences for Mental Public Health and Need for Rehabilitation Activities

The article examines the impact of illicit trafficking in narcotic drugs, psychotropic substances, tobacco products and alcohol on the neuropsychological mental health of minors and youth in Ukraine, the European Union and the USA. The existence of causal relationships between the spread of drug addiction and the increased risk of severe mental disorders, including suicide, has been established. Particular attention is paid to the activities of organized drug groups that use Internet technologies and electronic payment systems to sell prohibited psychoactive substances, which operate in parallel with the official medical and pharmaceutical infrastructure. Based on forensic and pharmaceutical research, it is substantiated that the drug business is a significant threat to the gene pool of the state, national security, legal culture, mental and public health. The relationship between drug addiction and the development of concomitant diseases according to ICD-11 has been revealed, tuberculosis, cardiovascular pathologies, oncology, HIV/AIDS, digestive disorders, endocrine system, and neuropsychiatric sphere. The necessity of carrying out rehabilitation, social and psychological measures to counteract suicidal thinking has been proven. The necessity of introducing an updated terminological apparatus based on the unification of two branches of law, medical law and pharmaceutical law, into one branch of law – medical and pharmaceutical law has been emphasized. The definition of medical and pharmaceutical law is given as a set of legal norms that regulate relations arising in the sphere of health care and the pharmaceutical industry during medical and pharmaceutical activities related to the circulation of medicines of all clinical and pharmacological, classification and legal, nomenclature and legal groups.