Issues relating to the content of administrative responsibility for drug trafficking

Introduction: the article considers approaches to the content of administrative responsibility. The content of administrative responsibility for illegal drug trafficking is specified (Article 6.8 of the Administrative Code of the Russian Federation). The expediency of allocating other structural elements of the content of administrative responsibility for illegal drug trafficking, in addition to administrative punishment, is justified. Materials and Methods: the normative basis of the article includes the Constitution of the Russian Federation, legislation on administrative offenses, normative acts regulating trafficking of drugs, psychotropic substances and their analogues, legal positions of the highest judicial instances. The results of the questionnaire of 282 citizens and 224 law enforcement professionals are presented. The methodological basis is the dialectical method of scientific knowledge, methods of comparison, analysis, interpretation. Results of the Study: During the analysis of the structural elements of administrative responsibility for drug trafficking, it was revealed that the penalties stipulated in the sanctions of Part 1 and Part 2 of Article 6.8 of the Administrative Code of the Russian Federation do not correspond to the public and law enforcement needs. The significance of the official recognition of a person's act as an administrative offense, as well as the negative consequences that occur for the person who committed it, is revealed. Findings and Conclusions: contrary to the traditional approach, in addition to administrative penalties, the elements of the content of administrative responsibility for drug trafficking are the official recognition of the person's act as an administrative offense, as well as the negative consequences of a legal nature. The necessity of making changes to the sanctions of Part 1 and Part 2 of Article 6.8 of the Administrative Code of the Russian Federation is justified.