Congress / States don’t really need to do anything. An unelected body of officials known as the DEA can change the drug schedule and all of the states will have to abide by that law.
Controlled (scheduled) drugs, substances, and certain chemicals are ones whose use and distribution are tightly controlled because of their abuse potential or risk. Controlled drugs are rated in the order of their abuse risk and placed in Schedules by the Federal Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA). The drugs with the highest abuse, and potential for psychological and/or physical dependence, are placed in Schedule I, and those with the lowest abuse potential are in Schedule V. These schedules are commonly shown as C-I, C-II, C-III, C-IV, and C-V. Some examples of drugs in these Schedules are as follows:
Schedule I — drugs with a high abuse risk. These drugs have NO safe, accepted medical use in the United States. Some examples are heroin, marijuana, LSD, PCP, and crack cocaine.
Schedule II — drugs with a high abuse risk, but also have safe and accepted medical uses in the United States. These drugs can cause severe psychological or physical dependence. Schedule II drugs include certain narcotics, stimulants, and depressant drugs. Some examples are morphine, cocaine, oxycodone (OxyContin®), , methylphenidate (Ritalin®), and dextroamphetamine (Dexedrine®).
Schedule III, IV, or V — drugs with an abuse risk less than Schedule II. These drugs also have safe and accepted medical uses in the United States. Schedule III, IV, or V drugs include those containing smaller amounts of certain narcotic and non-narcotic drugs, anti-anxiety drugs, tranquilizers, sedatives, stimulants, and non-narcotic analgesics. Some examples are acetaminophen with codeine (Tylenol® No.3), paregoric, diazepam (Valium®), alprazolam (Xanax®) and pentazocine (Talwin®)
Edited by user
2 years ago |
Reason: Not specified
