Involvement of minors in illicit trafficking of narcotic drugs, psychotropic substances and their analogues amid information globalization

Introduction: the article is devoted to the analysis of the issues of counteraction, as well as to the consideration of the causes and conditions of such a negative phenomenon as the involvement of minors in illicit trafficking of narcotic drugs, psychotropic substances and their analogues, committed through the use of information and telecommunication technologies, taking into account the large-scale digitalization of almost all spheres of human activity and society. Materials and Methods: the dialectical method of cognition of phenomena and processes was used by the author. In addition, universal scientific and private scientific methods have found wide application: system-structural, comparative-legal, logical, generalization, analysis of statistical data. Results: based on the conducted research, the author comes to the conclusion that at present criminal legal mechanisms for countering the involvement of minors in illicit trafficking of narcotic drugs, psychotropic substances and their analogues in general seem to be effective, excessive legal regulation, casuistry of criminal law norms can lead to aggravation of problems of law enforcement practice. At the same time, it is necessary to take effective measures aimed at countering the negative phenomenon under consideration, of an economic, social, and cultural nature. Discussion and Conclusions: taking into account the results of the study of the challenges of involving minors in the illicit trafficking of narcotic drugs, psychotropic substances and their analogues, characterized by a high level of latency, caused along with other factors by the use of information and telecommunication technologies, including the Internet, the peculiarities of the personality of minors, the necessity of applying measures to restrict access to web sites, containing materials about narcotic drugs, psychotropic substances and their analogues.