CRIMINAL POLICY AND PREVENTION OF DRUG ADDICTION AMONG YOUTH

Contribution of the criminal policy in the development of the integrated prevention-social policy related to drug addiction is highlyimportant because of the fact that it aims are reducing of the drug related crimes, protecting the victims and community. The paperconsiders interventions of the criminal policy into fi elds of treatment and prevention of drug addiction among youth. This relationrepresent challenge for policymakers because interconnections between different service, who do not always have the same point ofview how to approach to the problem, is strongly needed and expected. Thru the comparing of the implementation of prevention andcriminal policy in Great Britain, Netherlands, Sweden and Croatia, aim of the paper is to detected concepts and models of infl uenceof the criminal policy on the reducing use of drugs among youth and effectiveness of prevention programs. Lack of the support andsocial care for the drug addiction offenders within the criminal policy, have effects of the success of the social reintegration and appearanceof recidivism. There is a strong connection between prevention and criminal policy in the fi led of combating drug problem;on one side good prevention policy could infl uence on the reduction of number of youth who will committee drug crimes and enteredin the criminal justice system, but at the same time the criminal policy have the important role in the preventing of the drug abuse thruthe involving minor drug offenders in the treatment while there are in the criminal proceedings.