Controlled Substances Act - Schedule III Controlled Substances

Schedule III Controlled Substances

Schedule III substances are those that have the following findings:

1. The drug or other substance has a potential for abuse less than the drugs or other substances in schedules I and II.
2. The drug or other substance has a currently accepted medical use in treatment in the United States.
3. Abuse of the drug or other substance may lead to moderate or low physical dependence or high psychological dependence.

Except when dispensed directly by a practitioner, other than a pharmacist, to an ultimate user, no controlled substance in schedule III or IV, which is a prescription drug as determined under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (21 USC 301 et seq.), may be dispensed without a written or oral prescription in conformity with section 503(b) of that Act (21 USC 353 (b)). Such prescriptions may not be filled or refilled more than six months after the date thereof or be refilled more than five times after the date of the prescription unless renewed by the practitioner. Control of wholesale distribution is somewhat less stringent than Schedule II drugs. Provisions for emergency situations are less restrictive within the "closed system" of the Controlled Substances Act than for Schedule II though no schedule has provisions to address circumstances where the closed system is unavailable, nonfunctioning or otherwise inadequate.

Drugs in this schedule include:

• Anabolic steroids (including prohormones such as androstenedione);
• Intermediate-acting barbiturates, such as talbutal or butalbital;
• Buprenorphine;
• Dihydrocodeine when compounded with other substances, to a certain dosage and concentration.
• Ketamine, a drug originally developed as a safer, shorter-acting replacement for PCP (mainly for use as a human anesthetic) but has since become popular as a veterinary and pediatric anesthetic;
• Xyrem, a preparation of GHB used to treat narcolepsy. Xyrem is in Schedule III but with a restricted distribution system. All other forms of GHB are in Schedule I;
• Hydrocodone / codeine, when compounded with an NSAID (e.g. Vicoprofen, when compounded with ibuprofen) or with acetaminophen (paracetamol) (e.g. Vicodin / Tylenol 3);
• Marinol, synthetically prepared tetrahydrocannabinol (officially referred to by its INN, dronabinol) used to treat nausea and vomiting caused by chemotherapy, as well as appetite loss caused by AIDS;
• Paregoric, an antidiarrheal and anti-tussive, which contains opium combined with camphor (which makes it less addiction-prone than laudanum, which is in Schedule II);
• Ergine (lysergic acid amide), listed as a sedative but considered by some to be psychedelic. An inefficient precursor to its N,N-diethyl analogue, LSD, ergine occurs naturally in the seeds of Turbina corymbosa, Ipomoea tricolor, and Argyreia nervosa. Ergine is not biosynthesized by the ergot fungus (Claviceps purpurea), but can be biosynthesized by other species in the Claviceps genus. Ergine can be present as an artifact in extracts of ergot.