- actual or relative potential for abuse
- scientific evidence of the drug's pharmacological effect
- state of current scientific knowledge regarding the drug or other substance
- history and current pattern of abuse
- scope, duration and significance of abuse
- risk to the public health
- psychic or psychological dependence liability
- whether it is an immediate precursor of a substance already controlled
These drugs are then classified according to the degree of their abuse potential:
- Schedule I- Drug with high abuse potential but no accepted and safe medical use. These substances are generally illegal and cannot be manufactured, prescribed or used with the exception of investigatory purposes approved by the government.
- Examples include heroin and lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD).
- Schedule II- Drug with high abuse potential but recognized as safe and effective for medical use.
- Examples include opium, morphine, and cocaine.
- Schedule III- Drug that has less abuse potential than those classified in schedules I & II and recognized as safe and effective for medical use.
- Examples include short-acting barbiturates and amphetamines
- Schedule IV- Drug that has less abuse potential than those classified in schedules I, II, & III and recognized as safe and effective for medical use.
- Examples include diazepam and chloral hydrate.
- Schedule V- Drug that has less abuse potential than those classified in schedules I, II, III & IV and recognized as safe and effective for medical use.
- Examples include antidiarrheals and antitussives with opioid derivatives.
A state may place a drug in a different schedule than under federal law or choose not to schedule it at all. In general the more stringent classification will apply if there is a discrepancy between state and federal law.
See Sections 11054-11058 of the California Pharmacy Law Book for a more detailed list of drugs included in each schedule. http://www.pharmacy.ca.gov/laws_regs/lawbook.pdf
Picture Source: http://www.utdallas.edu/ehs/labsafety/
Picture Source: http://www.utdallas.edu/ehs/labsafety/
