Scheduling of Drug and Psychotropic Substances in the Iranian Criminal Justice System and United States of America

Policymakers, under the influence of the Drug Conventions, penalize drug crimes based on their degree of danger or harmfulness. Given the importance of this issue, by using a descriptive-analytical method and studying the regulations of drugs and psychotropic substances in the criminal justice system, we studied the main issue dangerousness of substances and how they are scheduled. The provisions of controlled substances in the US has also been reviewed. we conclude that in the Iranian legal system, despite the phrase "other drugs or non-pharmaceutical industrial Psychotropic", there is no criteria for evaluating the dangerousness of drugs, but in the United States, the controlled substances act based on some criteria categorized the substances in five schedule. The need for classifying the substance in situations where there is no criterion for scheduling them can intensify the old fears and change the situation in favor of tighter controls, including severe penalties. This has been done in relation to some types of substances, through the Antidrug Abuse Act. Understanding the concept of "dangerousness" as a social construction, can create different possibilities in the process and the result of assessing the dangerous of drugs. The performance of decision-making authorities also intensifies this process.