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Book

Controlled Substance Act

In: StatPearls [Internet]. Treasure Island (FL): StatPearls Publishing; 2025 Jan.
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Book

Controlled Substance Act

Nicole R. Ortiz et al.
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Excerpt

Title II of the Comprehensive Drug Abuse Prevention and Control Act of 1970, commonly known as the Controlled Substance Act (CSA), establishes a federal policy to regulate the manufacturing, distributing, importing/exporting, and use of regulated substances. The CSA was enacted by the 91st United States Congress and signed into law by President Richard Nixon in 1970.

This statute was an effort to combine all previous federal drug laws and allow for federal law enforcement of controlled substances, serving as the legal foundation in the federal fight against drug abuse. Initially, the purpose of the CSA was to fulfill the requirements of 2 international treaties, the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs (1961) and the Convention on Psychotropic Substances (1971).

These 2 treaties created a classification system in accordance with the scientific and medical findings of public health authorities. Under the 2 international treaties, the public health authority referenced is the World Health Organization, and under the CSA, it is the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS).

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Conflict of interest statement

Disclosure: Nicole Ortiz declares no relevant financial relationships with ineligible companies.

Disclosure: Charles Preuss declares no relevant financial relationships with ineligible companies.

References

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    1. Drug Enforcement Administration, Department of Justice. Controlled Substances Quotas. Final rule. Fed Regist. 2018 Jul 16;83(136):32784-90. - PubMed
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