Schedule I is one of the classifications of
drugs and other substances in the United States. It means that :
- The drug has a high potential for abuse
- The drug has no currently accepted medical use in treatment in the United States.
- There is a lack of accepted safety for use of the drug or other substance under medical supervision.
- Some Schedule I substances are heroin, LSD, marijuana, and methaqualone.
This information taken from the DEA website, http://www.usdoj.gov/dea/concern/abuse/chap1/control/sched1.htm
Schedule I is where all the
really bad drugs go. A number of
psychedelics have also made it on to the list. I believe that
peyote and
MDMA(
Ecstasy) are also classified as
Schedule I. By current criteria I can't figure out why
alcohol and
nicotine aren't on here, since they both have a high potential for abuse and don't have any accepted medical uses, and I can't figure out why marijuana is on here, since it does have accepted(well, sort of) medical use in the United States. Obviously this list is
horribly biased, like most things in the
American political system, and it would probably make sense to have something about addictive potential in the criteria. It would probably make more sense to just get rid of the
War on Drugs altogether and try and
educate people instead of throwing them in
jail.
Update:
I've been informed by
thecarp that alcohol does have a valid medical use, as an antidote for polyethylene glycol poisoning.