View source for Comprehensive Drug Abuse Prevention and Control Act of 1970

{{Use American English|date = March 2019}}
{{Short description|United States anti-drug law}}
{{Use mdy dates|date = March 2019}}
{{Refimprove|date=August 2016}}
{{Infobox U.S. legislation
| shorttitle      = Comprehensive Drug Abuse Prevention and Control Act of 1970
| longtitle       = An Act to amend the Public Health Service Act and other laws to provide increased research, into, and prevention of, drug abuse and drug dependence; to provide for treatment and rehabilitation of drug abusers and drug dependent persons; and to strengthen existing law enforcement authority in the field of drug abuse.
| acronym         = CDAPCA
| nickname        =
| enacted by      = 91st
| effective date  = October 27, 1970
| public law url  = http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/STATUTE-84/pdf/STATUTE-84-Pg1236.pdf
| cite public law = 91-513
| cite statutes at large = {{usstat|84|1236}}
| acts amended    =
| acts repealed   =
| title amended   = [[Title 21 of the United States Code|21 U.S.C.: Food and Drugs]]
| sections created = {{unbulleted list|{{Usc-title-chap|21|13}} § 801 et seq.|{{Usc-title-chap|21|13}} § 951 et seq.}}
| sections amended =
| leghisturl      =
| introducedin    = House
| introducedbill  = {{USBill|91|H.R.|18583}}
| introducedby    = [[Harley O. Staggers]] ([[Democratic Party (United States)|D]]–[[West Virginia|WV]])
| introduceddate  = September 10, 1970
| committees      = [[United States House Committee on Energy and Commerce|Interstate and Foreign Commerce Committee]] and [[United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary|Senate Judiciary Committee]]
| passedbody1     = House
| passeddate1     = September 24, 1970
| passedvote1     = [http://www.govtrack.us/congress/votes/91-1970/h355 341–6]
| passedbody2     = Senate
| passedas2       = <!-- used if the second body changes the name of the legislation -->
| passeddate2     = October 7, 1970
| passedvote2     = [http://www.govtrack.us/congress/votes/91-1970/s584 54–0]
| conferencedate  = October 13, 1970
| passedbody3     = House
| passeddate3     = October 14, 1970
| passedvote3     = passed
| agreedbody3     = <!-- used when the other body agrees without going into committee -->
| agreeddate3     = <!-- used when the other body agrees without going into committee -->
| agreedvote3     = <!-- used when the other body agrees without going into committee -->
| agreedbody4     = <!-- used if agreedbody3 further amends legislation -->
| agreeddate4     = <!-- used if agreedbody3 further amends legislation -->
| agreedvote4     = <!-- used if agreedbody3 further amends legislation -->
| passedbody4     = Senate
| passeddate4     = October 14, 1970
| passedvote4     = passed
| signedpresident = [[Richard M. Nixon]]
| signeddate      = October 27, 1970
| unsignedpresident = <!-- used when passed without presidential signing -->
| unsigneddate    = <!-- used when passed without presidential signing -->
| vetoedpresident = <!-- used when passed by overriding presidential veto -->
| vetoeddate      = <!-- used when passed by overriding presidential veto -->
| overriddenbody1 = <!-- used when passed by overriding presidential veto -->
| overriddendate1 = <!-- used when passed by overriding presidential veto -->
| overriddenvote1 = <!-- used when passed by overriding presidential veto -->
| overriddenbody2 = <!-- used when passed by overriding presidential veto -->
| overriddendate2 = <!-- used when passed by overriding presidential veto -->
| overriddenvote2 = <!-- used when passed by overriding presidential veto -->
| amendments      =
| SCOTUS cases    =
}}
{{Regulation of therapeutic goods in the United States}}
The '''Comprehensive Drug Abuse Prevention and Control Act of 1970''', {{USStatute|91|513|84|1236|1970|10|27}}, is a [[United States federal law]] that, with subsequent modifications, requires the [[pharmaceutical industry]] to maintain physical security and strict record keeping for certain types of [[drugs]].<ref>{{cite book|title=Electronic prescribing of controlled substances [electronic resource]: addressing health care and law enforcement priorities: hearing before the Committee on the Judiciary, United States Senate, One Hundred Tenth Congress, first session, December 4, 2007.|publisher=United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary |year=2008}}</ref> [[Controlled substances]] are divided into five schedules (or classes) on the basis of their potential for abuse, accepted medical use, and accepted safety under medical supervision. Substances in Schedule I have a high potential for abuse, no accredited medical use, and a lack of accepted safety. From Schedules II to V, substances decrease in potential for abuse. The schedule a substance is placed in determines how it must be controlled. Prescriptions for drugs in all schedules must bear the physician's federal Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) license number, but some drugs in Schedule V do not require a prescription. State schedules may vary from federal schedules.

The [[Controlled Substances Act]] (CSA), Title II of the Comprehensive Drug Abuse Prevention and Control Act of 1970, is the legal foundation of the government's fight against the abuse of [[recreational drug use|drugs]] and other substances. This law is a consolidation of numerous laws regulating the manufacture and distribution of [[narcotic]]s, [[stimulant]]s, [[depressant]]s, [[hallucinogen]]s, [[anabolic steroid]]s, and chemicals used in the illicit production of controlled substances. The act also provides a mechanism for substances to be controlled, added to a schedule, decontrolled, removed from control, rescheduled, or transferred from one schedule to another.<ref>{{cite journal|title=Recognizing Signs of Prescription Drug Abuse and Addiction, Part I |last=Felicilda-Reynaldo |first=Rhea Faye D |journal=Medsurg Nursing |volume=23 |issue=6 |pages=391–96 |date=November–December 2014|pmid=26281634 }}</ref>

Proceedings to add, delete, or change the schedule of a drug or other substance may be initiated by the [[Drug Enforcement Administration]] (DEA), the [[Department of Health and Human Services]] (HHS), or by petition from any interested party, including the manufacturer of a drug, a medical society or association, a pharmacy association, a public interest group concerned with drug abuse, a state or local government agency, or an individual citizen. When a petition is received by the DEA, the agency begins its own investigation of the drug.

The DEA also may begin an investigation of a drug at any time based upon information received from law enforcement laboratories, state and local law enforcement and regulatory agencies, or other sources of information.

Once the DEA has collected the necessary data, the Administrator of the Drug Enforcement Association, by authority of the [[United States Attorney General|Attorney General]], requests from the HHS a scientific and medical evaluation and recommendation as to whether the drug or other substance should be controlled or removed from control. This request is sent to the Assistant Secretary of Health of the HHS. Then, the HHS solicits information from the Commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration and evaluations and recommendations from the [[National Institute on Drug Abuse]], and on occasion, from the scientific and medical community. The Assistant Secretary, by authority of the Secretary, compiles the information and transmits back to the DEA a medical and scientific evaluation regarding the drug or other substance, a recommendation as to whether the drug should be controlled, and in what schedule it should be placed.

The medical and scientific evaluations are binding to the DEA with respect to scientific and medical matters. The recommendation on scheduling is binding only to the extent that if HHS recommends that the substance not be controlled, the DEA may not control the substance.

Once the DEA has received the scientific and medical evaluation from HHS, the Administrator will evaluate all available data and make a final decision whether to propose that a drug or other substance be controlled and into which schedule it should be placed.

The CSA also creates a closed system of distribution for those authorized to handle controlled substances. The cornerstone of this system is the registration of all those authorized by the DEA to handle controlled substances. All individuals and firms that are registered are required to maintain complete and accurate inventories and records of all transactions involving [[controlled substances]], as well as security for the storage of controlled substances.<ref>{{cite journal|title=Real Property, Trust, and Estate Law: Rents, Refi's, and Reefer Madness|last=Painter|first=J. Marcus|date=March–April 2015|volume=32|issue=2|journal=GP Solo|url=http://www.americanbar.org/publications/gp_solo/2015/march-april/real_property_trust_and_estate_law_rents_refis_and_reefer_madness.html}}</ref>

==See also==
* [[Controlled Substances Act]]
* [[Drug abuse]]
* [[Psychotropic Substances Act (United States)|Psychotropic Substances Act of 1978]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* Full text of CDAPCA: [https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/STATUTE-84/pdf/STATUTE-84-Pg1236.pdf 1970 version] | [https://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?path=/prelim@title21/chapter13&edition=prelim Current version]
* {{cite web |url=https://archive.org/details/4731750.1970.001.umich.edu/page/948/ |title=389: Remarks on Signing the Comprehensive Drug Abuse Prevention and Control Act of 1970 - October 27, 1970 |last=Nixon |first=Richard M. |date=October 27, 1970 |website=Internet Archive |location=Washington, D.C. |publisher=National Archives and Records Service |pages=948–949}}

{{Presidency of Richard Nixon}}

[[Category:1970 in American law]]
[[Category:United States federal controlled substances legislation]]
[[Category:History of drug control in the United States]]
[[Category:1970 in cannabis]]