Drugs in the Army: Problem Setting and Attempts at Reenvisioning It on the Global Scale. Part 1.

The purpose of the study is to study the determinants (social, moral, behavioral, psychophysiological, purely pathological, etc.) that can motivate military personnel to consume illegal psychoactive substances. An additional goal is the desire to give an objective assessment of the attempts of Western politicians to create a “universal soldier”, and in fact, a kamikaze of the 21st century (“suicide bomber-drug addict”). Research methods: the theoretical and methodological basis of the work is a set of philosophical, criminological, socio-psychological, medical-biological and political science approaches through which the problem of drug addiction in the military environment is studied. The criminological concept of causality and the interdisciplinary approach to the study of drug crime were most widely used in the process of writing this article. Conclusions: despite the fact that military personnel are an organic part of society, drug addiction in the army should be considered as a rather specific social phenomenon. Drug consumption in the military environment (at the micro level) shows an upward trend only in cases where the psychological and pedagogical support of personnel is not carried out professionally enough, and the discipline and microclimate in the team “leave much to be desired.” In general (already at the macro level), the determination of drug use by military personnel is determined by the influence of social, socio-economic, political, cultural (subcultural), psychological (including ethnopsychological) and medical and biological factors. The problems of drug addiction among personnel are more relevant for NATO countries than for Russia (which over many centuries has developed its own, unique approach to educating defenders of the Fatherland). The experiments of Western specialists on “mind control” of military personnel using all kinds of drugs (stimulants) and neurochips deserve close attention. Such activities (directed to harm people) should be recognized as inhumane and illegal. Scientific and practical significance of the study: The scientific novelty and theoretical significance of the research results lies in the fact that it provides a clinical and psychological interpretation of the aggressive and violent behavior of military personnel who abuse psychotropic substances and narcotic drugs (using the example of personnel of the armies of foreign states). The practical significance of this article lies in the fact that the conclusions and recommendations formulated in it can contribute to the development of measures to optimize educational and psychological-pedagogical work with military personnel of the Russian army, for the early identification of persons both distributing prohibited psychoactive substances among colleagues and regularly using them.