§ 39-17-403 — Power to schedule dangerous drugs - Federal determination - Exclusions - Revision and publication of schedules

(a) The commissioner of mental health and substance abuse services, upon the agreement of the commissioner of health, shall administer this part and title 53, chapter 11, parts 3 and 4, and may add substances to or delete or reschedule all substances enumerated in the schedules in this part, pursuant to the procedures of the commissioner of mental health and substance abuse services upon the agreement of the commissioner of health. In making a determination regarding a substance, the commissioner of mental health and substance abuse services, upon the agreement of the commissioner of health, shall consider the following: (1) The actual or relative potential for abuse; (2) The scientific evidence of its pharmacological effect, if known; (3) The state of current scientific knowledge regarding the substance; (4) The history and current pattern of abuse; (5) The scope, duration and significance of abuse; (6) The risk to the public health; (7) The potential of the substance to produce psychic or physiological dependence liability; and (8) Whether the substance is an immediate precursor of a substance already controlled under this section. (b) After considering the factors enumerated in subsection (a), the commissioner of mental health and substance abuse services, upon the agreement of the commissioner of health, shall make findings with respect thereto and issue a rule controlling the substance if the findings show the substance has a potential for abuse. (c) If the commissioner of mental health and substance abuse services, upon the agreement of the commissioner of health, designates a substance as an immediate precursor, substances that are precursors of the controlled precursor shall not be subject to control solely because they are precursors of the controlled precursor. (d) If any substance is designated, rescheduled, or deleted as a controlled substance under federal law and notice thereof is given to the commissioner of mental health and substance abuse services, the commissioner, upon the agreement of the commissioner of health, shall similarly control the substance under this part and title 53, chapter 11, parts 3 and 4 after the expiration of thirty (30) days from publication in the Federal Register of a final order designating a substance as a controlled substance or rescheduling or deleting a substance, unless within that thirty-day period, the commissioner of mental health and substance abuse services, upon the agreement of the commissioner of health, objects to inclusion, rescheduling or deletion. In that case, the commissioner of mental health and substance abuse services, upon the agreement of the commissioner of health, shall publish the reasons for objection and afford all interested parties an opportunity to be heard. At the conclusion of the hearing, the commissioner of mental health and substance abuse services, upon the agreement of the commissioner of health, shall publish a decision, which shall be final unless altered by statute. Upon publication of objection to inclusion, rescheduling, or deletion under this part, and title 53, chapter 11, parts 3 and 4 by the commissioner of mental health and substance abuse services, upon the agreement of the commissioner of health, control under this part and title 53, chapter 11, parts 3 and 4 is stayed until a decision in the matter is published. (e) Authority to control under this section does not extend to distilled spirits, wine, malt beverages or tobacco as those terms are defined or used elsewhere in this code. (f) The commissioner shall exclude the following from a schedule: (1) Hemp, as defined in § 43-27-101 ; and (2) Any nonnarcotic substance if, under the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act, compiled in 21 U.S.C. § 301 et seq., and the laws of this state, the substance may be lawfully sold over the counter without a prescription. (g) The commissioner of mental health and substance abuse services, upon the agreement of the commissioner of health, in cooperation with the board of pharmacy, and in consultation with the director of the Tennessee bureau of investigation, shall revise and republish the schedules annually.

Legislative History

Amended by 2019 Tenn. Acts, ch. 87, s 2, eff. 4/4/2019. Amended by 2018 Tenn. Acts, ch. 1040, s 1, eff. 7/1/2018. Acts 1989, ch. 591, § 1; 2010 , ch. 1100, § 65; 2012 , ch. 575, § 2.