One year after the war ends, Ukraine may face a situation where up to one million people struggle with addiction to psychoactive substances. This is one of the forecasts from a new study by the "Health Solutions" Charitable Foundation and the Ukrainian Catholic University.

Ukraine's experience is far from unique — similar trends have been seen in post-war societies and militaries over the past century. Yet, our country continues to replicate the mistakes rather than apply solutions developed over decades. While the world is moving toward treating addiction as a health issue, Ukraine still criminalizes it.

Looking at the statistics on drug-related crimes, it’s clear that Ukraine’s punitive approach is ineffective. Criminal cases do not cure addiction — they drive people away from seeking help. As a result, the problem remains hidden, festers, and deepens. If we want a strong and independent Ukraine tomorrow, we must start reforming drug policy today. Here's why — on the International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking.

This material is based on:

• Three studies by Healthy Solutions — one in partnership with the "Kharkiv with You" Foundation, one with the UCU School of Law, and one by our in-house legal team.
• Expert roundtables and professional discussions initiated by our foundation with participation from specialists, policymakers, law enforcement, and judiciary.
• Closed meetings with military doctors, combat medics, and professionals working with service members experiencing addiction.
• A regional visit by the Eastern and Central Europe and Central Asia Commission on Drug Policy, co-organized by Healthy Solutions.

The Scale of the Problem

The number of people convicted under drug-related articles in Ukraine is growing: from 10,200 in 2021 to 13,900 in 2023. It is now the fourth most common type of criminal offense.

One major reason is the war — an attempt to numb emotional and physical pain, fear, and trauma.

Kseniia Shapoval, Director of Civic Resilience Programs at the International Renaissance Foundation, noted at a meeting on drug use in the Defense Forces that the use of psychoactive substances is rising even among children and teenagers whose parents, for example, went to the front.

This rising demand is met with evolving supply. Never before has it been so easy — and so safe — for consumers to obtain drugs, and for sellers to remain anonymous.

According to Oleksandr Koval, a prosecutor from the Office of the Prosecutor General, drug producers are constantly inventing new substances that are not (yet) illegal or splitting the trafficking process into steps that are not individually punishable. The anonymity of encrypted messengers and cryptocurrency further shields all involved.

In cases where perpetrators are caught and only face administrative charges, 95.4% of courts in 2023 issued fines — with an average of 861.20 UAH. This has no deterrent effect: the number of such administrative cases continues to grow.

The war has also created a new high-risk group: active-duty service members and veterans.

“Studies of post-war outcomes over the last century show that at least 30% of veterans develop long-term addictions”
explains Tetiana Havrysh, co-founder of Health Solutions.

Addiction in the Defense Forces is a major — and largely taboo — area of our work. The military often hides these problems, and society idealizes its defenders. But real challenges remain: one in four criminally convicted Ukrainian soldiers in 2024 was sentenced for drug-related offenses. And this is not recreational use — it’s an attempt to cope with trauma, pain, sleeplessness, and fear while still carrying out combat tasks. Instead of getting help, they are stigmatized and punished.

Punishing the Sick

According to our research, 98% of Ukrainian service members convicted of drug crimes are consumers. This reflects a broken law enforcement approach: prioritizing minor offenses like a single joint over major trafficking networks. These small cases are easier to prosecute and help inflate law enforcement statistics.

Since the start of the full-scale invasion, the percentage of military personnel convicted for drug-related crimes has more than tripled — from 9.73% in 2022 to 24.72% in 2024.

It’s clear: addiction is not cured by criminalization. A criminal record only prevents people from getting jobs, adopting children, applying for credit, or traveling abroad.

“If we continue to use repressive measures against people who use drugs, then drug enforcement becomes a source of new risks — especially the criminalization of service members, which creates major barriers to reintegration after the war”
says Mykola Karchevskyi, Professor of Law and Public Administration at King Danylo University.

This problem is not new. According to Healthy Solutions’ earlier research, in 2018, 84% of guilty verdicts in drug cases involved possession of small amounts for personal use.

And when we say "small," we mean it — in half the cases, the quantity didn’t exceed 0.5g of heroin. That’s six times less than the threshold for prosecution in Austria or Spain. Moreover, 67% of Ukraine’s drug-related sentences are for cannabis.

Ukrainian courts are starting to acknowledge this mismatch. Half of those convicted are released on probation. Yet few are ordered to undergo treatment. Probation programs and court-mandated rehabilitation are virtually nonexistent.

Meanwhile, the state continues to use outdated tools — like a mandatory addiction registry that publicly discloses patients’ personal data. According to our study, “Most patients with addiction cite this registry as one of the main reasons they avoid seeking treatment.”

Stigma remains one of the biggest barriers to addressing addiction. In the military, for example, neither the soldier nor their commander wants to report a case of addiction — because it guarantees new problems, not help.

Society avoids the topic, and the state refuses to speak about it. There’s no reliable data on addiction in the Defense Forces — the most basic information required for effective treatment and reintegration is missing. Ukraine doesn’t even have national data on addiction in civilian life, as the state does not conduct such research.

But addiction is a serious risk. It poses physical and psychological threats to families and communities. It contributes to reoffending (users must find money for their next dose). And it undermines the effectiveness of the Defense Forces.

"Of course, no one wants to share a room with someone who wakes up at night pacing with a knife, telling his friend: 'You take the front row, I’ll take the second"
said one psychologist interviewed in our research.

On the fourth year of full-scale war, Ukraine faces a perfect storm in drug policy: war increases the number of users, while the state deepens the problem through criminal prosecution. It’s time to change course.

International Experience

Ukraine is not the first country to face growing addiction — and, so far, our situation is not the worst. Thirty years ago, Lisbon was called the heroin capital of Europe. But Portugal and other countries acted. Their approach is simple: treat addiction, don’t punish it.

The key reform — and perhaps the most counterintuitive — was the decriminalization of personal use and possession.

Cannabis has been decriminalized in countries such as Luxembourg, Brazil, and South Africa. More than 20 countries have decriminalized all drugs to some extent — including Poland, Estonia, Germany, Switzerland, Italy, Chile, and Argentina.

The World Health Organization and UNDP have been calling for decriminalization for over a decade. Their argument is clear: without fear of punishment, people seek help. The problem is not compounded by criminal charges. And the state saves money — Ukraine currently spends the equivalent of two minimum wages per month per prisoner.

These changes work: In Portugal, ten years after the reform, addiction treatment participation increased by 94%, while drug use dropped by 37%.

Decriminalization is only the first step. Once someone can safely seek help — help must be available. As noted in Health Solutions’ study, "The focus of Ukraine’s reformed drug policy must be public health — including demand reduction (prevention, treatment, rehabilitation), harm reduction programs (needle exchange, opioid substitution therapy), and access to essential medications for legitimate use."

Law enforcement must stop targeting low-level users and focus on large-scale producers and traffickers. Countries that decriminalized personal use have freed up significant law enforcement resources.

The health care system also needs reform. Services must be geographically accessible and not tied solely to psychiatric hospitals. Outpatient psychiatric care should be available in regional hospitals. Trained nurses should be allowed to provide interventions like motivational interviewing — to address staff shortages.

Ukraine must also introduce a national drug use survey system and establish a real-time drug monitoring system. Policy decisions must be based on reliable data.

Finally, interagency coordination must improve. Ukraine needs a centralized drug policy coordination body — ideally under the Ministry of Health. Today, the Ministry does not have this mandate.

A separate national strategy is needed for addressing addiction in the military. This is vital for defense capacity and for veterans’ reintegration. We must lift the taboo from the word "drug."

"No military in the world has ever avoided this problem,"
says Viktoriia Tymoshevska, Executive Director of Health Solutions.

Screening and treatment must begin before people enter the armed forces. Units should be focused on missions, not managing addiction in new recruits.

Within the military, support must be strengthened. Roundtable participants organized by Health Solutions proposed several solutions: transfer military psychologists to the medical corps and relieve them of unrelated bureaucratic duties; create opportunities for continuation of care in specialized rehab centers; treat co-dependency within soldier peer groups who use drugs together.

It’s also vital to inform service members about the availability of care — and to create a unified national system for treating veterans with addiction.