Concerning the differentiation of responsibility for crimes related to the illicit trafficking in drug and psychotropic substance precursors

The article reviews several issues of differentiation of responsibility for crimes related to the illicit trafficking in drug and psychotropic substance precursors. The author pays attention to the elements that determine the nature of crime stipulated in Articles 228.2, 228.3, 228.4, 229.1, 231 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation and consequently differentiate the responsibility for them. Comparing the elements determining the nature of acts stated in Article 228.1 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, the author notes that some of them can be reasonably reviewed in Article 228.4 of the abovementioned Code in the same way. In particular, it is referred to committing a crime in a certain place (in prison, educational organization, at sports facilities) using media. The article focuses on the distinction between the corresponding crimes and administrative offenses. The research resulted in a range of the proposals to improve the domestic criminal law.