New psychoactive substances as a modern threat agent to public health

Abstract

Based on the international legal documents, this article presents an extensive description of the concept of new psychoactive substances (NPS), their quantitative and qualitative composition, and relevant classification. The data is provided on the level of illicit drug trafficking, as well as circulation and consequences of their use trough injection in the Russian Federation in relation to other countries. The author discloses the content of measures applied to control illegal trafficking of NPS and criminal liability in accordance with the legislation of foreign countries (peculiarities, differences, classification). Comparative legal method allows reviewing the provisions of the Russian legislation on prevention of illegal trafficking of the new potentially dangerous psychoactive substances. Attention is turned to the problem of the ineffective norms in the Russian criminal law; the approaches towards of its resolution and prevention are proposed. Analysis is conducted on the legislative policy of the use of generally recognized international legal concepts under an alias and with different content, as well as its impact upon the quality and development of criminal legislation.