§962. Authority to control

            A. All controlled dangerous substances listed in R.S. 40:964 are hereby controlled.

            B. The secretary shall add a substance as a controlled dangerous substance if it is classified as a controlled dangerous substance by the Drug Enforcement Administration of the United States government.

            C. The secretary may by rule add to the schedules provided in R.S. 40:964 any drug or other substance if he finds that such drug or other substance has a high potential for abuse, and after such a finding by the secretary, the drug shall be added in the appropriate schedule under the criteria provided under R.S. 40:963. In making a finding that a drug or other substance has a high potential for abuse, the secretary shall consider the following factors with respect to each drug or other substance proposed to be controlled:

            (1) Its actual or relative potential for abuse.

            (2) Scientific evidence of its pharmacological effect, if known.

            (3) State of current scientific knowledge regarding the substance.

            (4) Its history and current pattern of abuse.

            (5) Its scope, duration and significance of abuse.

            (6) What, if any, risk there is to public health.

            (7) Its psychic or physiological dependence liability.

            (8) Whether the substance is an immediate precursor of a substance already controlled by this Section.

            D. In an adjudication, the secretary may transfer a controlled substance from one schedule to another schedule upon the basis of a finding that the characteristics of the controlled drug or substances are such that under the criteria in R.S. 40:963 the controlled substances should be transferred or that a transfer of any substance listed under R.S. 40:964 from one schedule to another schedule should be made in order to conform with the schedule in which the drug is placed by the Drug Enforcement Administration of the United States government.

            E. If the secretary designates a substance as an immediate precursor, substances which are precursors of the controlled precursor shall not be subject to control solely because they are precursors of the controlled precursor.

            F. The secretary shall exclude any nonnarcotic substance from a schedule if the substance may, under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act and the law of this state, be lawfully sold over the counter without a prescription.

            G. The reclassification of any controlled dangerous substance or its transfer from one schedule to another by the secretary or the state health officer shall not affect the penalties provided by this Part.

            H. If the scheduling of a substance in Schedule I is necessary to avoid an imminent peril to the public health, safety, or welfare, the secretary may adopt an emergency rule adding the substance to Schedule I pursuant to R.S. 49:962. In determining whether the substance poses an imminent peril to the public health, safety, or welfare, the secretary shall consider the factors set forth in Paragraphs (C)(4), (5), and (6) of this Section.

            I. The secretary may by rule delete any drug or other substance from the schedules provided in R.S. 40:964 if the drug or other substance is no longer classified as a controlled dangerous substance by the United States Drug Enforcement Administration.

            Added by Acts 1972, No. 634, §1. Amended by Acts 1977, No. 649, §1; Acts 1978, No. 717, §1; Acts 1994, 3rd Ex. Sess., No. 34, §2; Acts 2018, No. 206, §4; Acts 2021, No. 96, §1, eff. June 4, 2021; Acts 2021, No. 211, §10.