What it means
ماده مخدر (mâdde-ye mokhader) means a narcotic substance or controlled drug. Both components are of Arabic origin: ماده (mâdde) comes from Arabic مادة meaning material or substance, and مخدر (mokhader) comes from Arabic مخدر, derived from خدر (khadar) meaning numbness or stupor. The combined phrase is the formal and legal standard in Persian for narcotics. In everyday informal speech Iranians may use مواد (mavâdd, literally substances or materials, plural of مادة) as a shorthand, or مواد مخدر (mavâdd-e mokhader) as the plural form. The singular ماده مخدر is more precise in medical or legal writing.
How to use it
- تولید ماده مخدر در ایران جرمه. (Tolid-e mâdde-ye mokhader dar Irân jorm-e.) “Producing narcotic substances is a crime in Iran.”
- پلیس یه محموله ماده مخدر کشف کرد. (Polis ye mahmule-ye mâdde-ye mokhader kashf kard.) “The police uncovered a shipment of narcotics.”
- اعتیاد به ماده مخدر یه بیماری اجتماعیه. (E’tiyâd be mâdde-ye mokhader ye bimâri-ye ejtemâ’iyeh.) “Addiction to narcotics is a social illness.”
- این دارو یه ماده مخدر کنترلشدهست. (In dâru ye mâdde-ye mokhader-e kontrol-shodeh-st.) “This medication is a controlled narcotic substance.”
Cultural note
Iran faces one of the highest rates of opium and heroin addiction in the world, a consequence partly of its geography as a transit country bordering Afghanistan, the world’s largest opium producer, and partly of a historical tradition of opium use that predates the twentieth century. The Iranian government has treated drug addiction with a combination of law enforcement and harm-reduction programs, and مواد مخدر is a topic that appears regularly in Iranian public health campaigns, news, and political debate. Penalties for drug trafficking in Iran are among the most severe in the world.