러시아ㆍ유라시아

Drug trafficking and consumption are global phenomena strongly influenced by a multitude of social, economic and cultural factors. The process of globalization, characterized by the free movement of people, goods and capital and the development of new information and communication technologies, has led to new challenges in the spread of the drug use phenomenon worldwide. These changes of the international economic environment have influenced Romania too through a warring increase both in the amount of diversified drugs on the market and the number of the drugs users, especially in Bucharest. As a result, most specialized medical units and their managers face big difficulties in managing the phenomenon. The paper approaches the phenomenon from the management perspective of the medical units specialised in the evaluation and treatment of drug users. The aims of the research have been to find out the main weaknesses of the management of medical units and their causes, the main factors and variables with major influence and to formulate a set of improvement recommendations. The work is based on a mixed-type research methodology that includes qualitative and quantitative methods, such as the questionnaire, in-depth semi-structured interview, causal analysis, factorial analysis, SWOT analysis, and diagnostic analysis and STEP analysis. The results can be of interest to researchers and managers of specialized medical units as well as to the managers of other similar organizations and specialized institutions from the central and local administrative levels who are directly involved in the policy process regarding the drug phenomenon in Romania.