Aspectos forenses da lei de drogas: desafios da ciência

To correctly apply the Drug Law, it is necessary to obey the scientific requirements of the tests involved in identifying illegal substances. However, Law 11.343/2006, also known as Drugs Law, does not present precise requirements for the technical-scientific exams. Correct identification is essential for law enforcement. This work aimed to evaluate the weaknesses of the requirements of the Law concerning its scientific aspects. We carried out a focused bibliographic review applied to literature in Portuguese to raise information and evaluate the characteristics of the Law to certify the materiality of the foreseen crimes. We also investigated the foreign literature references with related terms in English. In this case, the idea was to understand the national problem from an international point of view. To understand the topic, the study used essential keywords in Portuguese and English bibliographic databases. As a result, a comparison of available articles was made. The results exposed the lack of information on the scientific discussion relevant to Drug Law at the national level. An evaluation of how the drug issue law evolved helped to understand the main characteristics of the current Law. The assessment of the jurisprudential understanding of the scientific requirements reinforces that the lack of information and knowledge on the subject can cause problems for the correct application of the Law. There are no reliable scientific criteria to attest to the substance's nature. The amount of drug seized is interpreted differently by legal practitioners. The consolidation of these problems can have consequences for mass incarceration.