The article considers the main stages of development of administrative liability for illicit drug trafficking. There are three stages: 1) pre-revolutionary; 2) soviet; 3) the times of independent Ukraine, which differed in approaches to administrative responsibility in this area.
It is shown that the process of drug use began in the archaic period, by conducting magical, religious rites, ritual and healing ceremonies in order to achieve mental reactions and trance. During the stay of Ukrainian lands in the Russian Empire, they were subject to the rules of imperial law, which provided for fines, confiscation of materials and devices used in such offenses.
The provisions of the Administrative Code of the USSR of 1927, the Code of the Ukrainian VTS on administrative violations of 1984 and the current Code of Administrative Offenses, which reflect the rules of administrative liability for violations in this area.
It is shown that during the period of independent Ukraine, administrative and legal activities in the field of combating drug trafficking were conducted in the following areas: licensing activities; the order of transportation of drugs; regulation of their circulation; creation of a public authority whose task was to control the circulation of drugs and legal regulation of their use.
Key words: administrative responsibility, drugs, rites, traditions, treatment, rehabilitation, volumes of narcotic substances.