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This paper describes patterns of trafficking from and within South-Eastern Europe, with particular attention to traffickers and their activities. This helps to determine the most effective methods of tackling these grave crimes through the strategic use of the criminal justice system. To date, attention has primarily been paid to victims of trafficking -- who they are and what makes them vulnerable -- in an effort to develop counter-trafficking interventions. To complement these studies of victims, studies of traffickers and their operations are also required. There is a need to address traffickers' behaviour through more effective law enforcement and through legal, social and economic reforms that will cause them to reassess the economic benefits of pursuing this strategy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the past 50 years, heroin was an essential factor of the drug problem in Europe. According to statistics it is difficult to quantify the extent of this phenomenon because there are large variations between drug uses in EU countries. This paper refers to the understanding of how the drug phenomenon will develop in the future considering the trends in the illegal drug market and the efficiency of the policies implemented in their area. We've considered several factors of influence such as the expansion of globalization, the impact of the economic crisis on drug market and the growing importance of the Internet as a tool used in drug distribution activity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper begins with an outline of the current German drug control system. Drug use and drug control are viewed theoretically as complementary components of a complex social and historical process that integrates sociology, the sociology of law, political science, and social psychology The German drug control system is viewed as a byproduct of these different disciplines. Within this context, the evolution of pertinent drug laws and their implementation are discussed. Recent developments are viewed as taking place in a series of stages based on three paradigms: (1) criminalization, (2) medicalization, and (3) acceptance. Over time there seems to have been a slow transition from the first to the last of these paradigms, implying that elements of all three approaches have been integrated into various policies and strategies that differ between states and regions of Germany, as well as between different levels of drug policy and drug care. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Today, alcohol addiction has the largest expansion in all population groups, as recognized by the experts in various fields as a true "pandemic toxic". Alcohol and drugs are the main causes for the increase of the crime rate. Statistics show that alcohol consumption is correlated with 50% of suicide cases, 80% of crimes, 30% of serious traffic accidents and 15% of drowning cases. The paper aims at providing an insight into the level and trend of alcohol consumption in Europe and Romania based on the statistics of the last decade. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Today, alcohol addiction has the largest expansion in all population groups, as recognized by the experts in various fields as a true "pandemic toxic". Alcohol and drugs are the main causes for the increase of the crime rate. Statistics show that alcohol consumption is correlated with 50% of suicide cases, 80% of crimes, 30% of serious traffic accidents and 15% of drowning cases. The paper aims at providing an insight into the level and trend of alcohol consumption in Europe and Romania based on the statistics of the last decade. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study proposes an empirical analysis of the relation between the prices of illegal drugs and the use of violence to administrate the markets of illegal drugs. The study hypothesizes that the prices of illegal drugs affect the level of violent crime, since changes in profitability of the drugs’ markets affect the offenders’ expected utility of using violence to operate in these markets. An increase (or decrease) in prices would raise (or reduce) the offenders’ expected utility of making use of violence, for instance, to solve disputes over drugs, to conquer more market shares, to defend ones own market share, in short to make use of systemic violence (Goldstein, P.J. Journal of Drug Issues, 39:143–179, ). The study will analyze the relation between the dynamics of cocaine and heroin’s prices and systemic violence in the United States of America and in Europe over two decades. The correlational and inferential analyses do support the hypothesis for certain offenders’ profiles and certain murders’ circumstances. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Focuses on the problems related to the implementation of training programs offered by non-governmental organizations for the field of drug demand reduction in Europe. Increase of problems related to organized crime; Significance of alcoholism; Non-existence of social problems during the Communist era.