THE PHENOMENON OF DRUG ADDICTION IN THE INTERPRETATION OF THE RUSSIAN ORTHODOX CHURCH

Drug addiction is a complex spiritual, political, medical, social, and legal problem. In an attempt to solve this problem, the state is building an anti-drug policy that includes a "religious component": religious organisations are given the opportunity to participate in the prevention of non-medical drug use and rehabilitation of drug addicts. In response to state initiatives and in connection with the accumulated experience of work with drug addicts, in 2012 the Church adopted the document "On the Participation of the Russian Orthodox Church in the Rehabilitation of Drug Addicts", and is actively developing practical activities. The new anti-drug strategy for the period of 2020-2030 calls on religious organisations to develop a position that will enrich the anti-dr ug ideology with moral and ethical meanings, based on "traditional Russian spiritual and moral values". This poses a challenge for the Church to develop theological arguments about the harm of drug use. In this regard, it is relevant to analyse the theoretical and practical developments of the Russian Orthodox Church in this area. The first part of the article systematises the key theoretical and ideological ideas related to the topic of drug use and addiction, as reflected in the official documents of the Russian Orthodox Church. The second part analyses the views of the clergy and lay specialists who consider and evaluate their work within a confessional framework. The conclusion highlights the conceptual guidelines on which the Church's position is based.