accelerated training of highly qualified personnel (addictive conditions psychiatrists, psychologists, educators, social workers) at medical colleges and upper level courses, specialized training of medical attendants, nurses and technicians. The study program should cover not only the novel methods of treatment, but also the specifics of contacts with the drug addicts and methods of readiness for treatment and prophylactic practice;

organization of new preventive-treatment/ registration clinics, out-patient departments at industrial facilities and offices, emergency aid centers and a wide publication of data on their mode of operation, anonymous and commercial treatment centers for drug addicts;

extensive adoption by drug-abuse monitoring services of the achievements in the medical science, psychology, pedagogy, pharmacy, and special-purpose technology;

modernization of drug-abuse monitoring services, improvement of material supplies and provision of the necessary personnel.

The post-treatment rehabilitation measures should include: a) the creation of purpose-oriented government-run and charity funds, ex-drug abusers support funds and diverse forms of work with them; b) development of rehabilitation methods based on the effective analysis of the existing rehabilitation procedures and of qualification levels of the personnel; c) psychological assistance to the former abusers' families, relatives, and friends who must be taught the techniques of exerting favorable influence on the patients.

Equally important is the organization of other anti-narcotics efforts taken by public health institutions.

The health of the nation is an important element of the social and economic development of a country. From this angle, the popularization of a rational way of life, the cultivation of respect for human health as the basic value of society ranks high among the priorities of medical institutions.

Publicizing Information Against Drugs:

A skillful and persistent dissemination of knowledge about the destructive impact of drugs and their detriment for the future generations is a crucial activity of medical institutions in the struggle against narcotics.

It is advisable to find a particular audience and do masterly presentations. Lectures and discussions are not the only means of knowledge dissemination. Meetings with former drug addicts and presentations about broken human lives have also proved productive.

To increase the prophylactic effects of popularization, it would be useful to train the instructors on the methods and tactics of campaigning against narcotics, design a system of mass anti-narcotic education, based on medical science, provide the necessary teaching aids, control and stimulate this activity.

Organization of Control Over the Use of Narcotic Substances:

Public health institutions have responsibilities in exercising control over narcotic substances under international conventions, treaties, agreements and other forms of international cooperation in combating drug abuse. As mentioned earlier, their primary responsibility is to control the proper use of drugs, the correct taking of their stock, their storage, distribution and removal. The issue of special prominence is the storage of narcotic substances at medical institutions and warehouses and the thwarting of attempts to misappropriate them. Inspections often expose serious flaws in this field.

To rule out a possible abuse, leakage or misappropriation of drugs, the following list of measures is essential:

guarding narcotic substance storage facilities, fitting them out with new equipment and fire/break-in alarm systems connected to the central control panel or to the 24-hour operational medical personnel or guards mail;

proper protection of the points where drugs are stored in small quantities for distribution as administered by the physicians;

tightened control over big-batch long-term storage facilities like the warehouses of regional drug-store administrations, and strategic reserves warehouses;

regular inspections at narcotic drug warehouses;

strict abidance by the rules of taking stock, storage and use of drugs for medical purposes;

a timely exchange of information with the police on the above issues and cooperation in drawing up the lists of drug storage facilities.

Experience suggests that a successful solution of the problem depends on the depth of our insight into it. This is especially true of such a complex issue as the treatment and rehabilitation of drug addicts regardless of what stage they are at. That is why the fullest and the most objective information is essential for the medical and other institutions to organize a counter-offensive against drug abuse. With that goal in mind, public health centers should adhere to the following organizational guidelines:

gathering and analysis of information on the conditions of drug addicts, tendencies in and results of their treatment and rehabilitation, and types and means of using drugs and the impact they have;

interaction with other institutions and departments in concrete forms of anti-narcotics activities in such large-scale operations as Poppy and Doping, in check-ups and research;

control surveys prepared by the narcology service.

Organizational support for these guidelines could be achieved through:

the establishment of a strict procedure for and the terms of turning in, and registration of documents, supply of dependable information on the actual situation with drugs and their sales and use for both medical and non-medical purposes, on the individuals perpetrating misuse, supply of other data essential for making specific decisions;

cooperation with other departments in holding joint selective research and express-tests to obtain reliable information on the actual levels of drug abuse, the damage it inflicts, the effects of treatment and other types of aid to the addicts;

scheduled and unscheduled departmental and/or inter-departmental inspections of how control over drugs is maintained, and how the rules of their use and storage are observed;

analysis and broad publicity of the achievements of medical staffs who have a record of positive results in combating narcotics, as well as provision of incentives.

The scope of health institutions' duties also embraces revealing and timely informing the relevant departments and the public at large on dangerous tendencies in drug abuse, new varieties of stupefying substances, the techniques of their manufacture and the means of use. The public health system develops the adequate methods of prevention, treatment, and counteraction.

Par. 3. Enforcement of Legal Measures of Narcotics Counteraction

The organization of legal enforcement of anti-narcotics measures falls into three groups:

1) application of legal administrative and criminal legal norms regulating the prevention and suppression of narcotics; 2) government legal measures to set and refine law enforcement and other agencies combating narcotics; 3) international anti-narcotics measures.