Drug Schedule Lookup

Pick a commonly searched substance to see the federal schedule that lists it, its entry quoted from 21 CFR Part 1308, the findings the law requires for that schedule and the prescription rules that follow.

A substance can be placed in a schedule only when the findings the law requires for that schedule are made, except where a treaty in effect on Oct. 27, 1970, requires control or the substance is an immediate precursor. U.S. Code

This lookup quotes the eCFR issue of 21 CFR Part 1308 dated Sept. 22, 2026; the schedules there are “changed, updated, and republished from time to time.” 21 CFR 1308.01

Federal and state drug laws both apply: the federal law isn’t meant to push aside state law on the same subject, including criminal penalties, unless the two are in “positive conflict” so that they “cannot consistently stand together.” U.S. Code

How a Substance Gets Scheduled

• A substance can be placed in a schedule only when the findings the law requires for that schedule are made, except where a treaty in effect on Oct. 27, 1970, requires control or the substance is an immediate precursor. U.S. Code

The table under the lookup quotes the findings for each of the five schedules.

Prescription Rules by Schedule

• The federal prescription section, 21 U.S.C. 829, sets rules for Schedule II, Schedules III and IV, and Schedule V substances. U.S. Code
• If a Schedule II substance is a prescription drug under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, it may be dispensed only on a practitioner’s written prescription, except when a practitioner other than a pharmacist dispenses it directly to the ultimate user. U.S. Code
• In emergency situations defined by regulation, a Schedule II prescription drug may be dispensed on an oral prescription. U.S. Code
• A prescription for a Schedule II substance may not be refilled. U.S. Code
• If a Schedule III or IV substance is a prescription drug under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, it may be dispensed only on a written or oral prescription, except when a practitioner other than a pharmacist dispenses it directly to the ultimate user. U.S. Code
• A Schedule III or IV prescription may not be filled or refilled more than six months after its date, or refilled more than five times, unless the practitioner renews it. U.S. Code
• If a Schedule V substance is a drug, it may be distributed or dispensed only for a medical purpose. U.S. Code
• A controlled substance that is a prescription drug may not be delivered, distributed or dispensed over the internet without a valid prescription. U.S. Code
• An ultimate user is a person who has lawfully obtained, and possesses, a controlled substance for their own use, a household member’s use or an animal owned by them or a household member. U.S. Code
• Some prescription products containing a nonnarcotic controlled substance listed in 21 CFR 1308.12(e), 1308.13(b) or (c), 1308.14 or 1308.15 are exempted, “for administrative purposes only,” from parts of the law that include its prescription section, 21 U.S.C. 829. 21 CFR 1308.32

Salts, Isomers and Preparations

• Each schedule covers the substances it lists “by whatever official name, common or usual name, chemical name, or brand name designated.” 21 CFR 1308.12(a)

What a listing covers depends on its paragraph’s heading and on the entry itself. Two headings and two entries show how:

• Schedule IV’s depressant paragraph covers “any material, compound, mixture, or preparation which contains any quantity of” a listed substance, “including its salts, isomers, and salts of isomers whenever the existence of such salts, isomers, and salts of isomers is possible within the specific chemical designation,” “unless specifically excepted or unless listed in another schedule.” 21 CFR 1308.14(c)
• Schedule II’s stimulant paragraph covers “any material, compound, mixture, or preparation which contains any quantity of” a listed substance, “unless specifically excepted or unless listed in another schedule.” 21 CFR 1308.12(d)
• As of the eCFR’s Sept. 22, 2026, issue, Schedule II lists “Amphetamine, its salts, optical isomers, and salts of its optical isomers” at 21 CFR 1308.12(d)(1). 21 CFR 1308.12(d)(1)
• As of the eCFR’s Sept. 22, 2026, issue, Schedule II lists “Methylphenidate” at 21 CFR 1308.12(d)(4). 21 CFR 1308.12(d)(4)

Marijuana, THC and Hemp

• As of the eCFR’s Sept. 22, 2026, issue, Schedule I lists “Marihuana” at 21 CFR 1308.11(d)(23). 21 CFR 1308.11(d)(23)
• The same issue lists in Schedule III, at 21 CFR 1308.13(g)(2), “Marijuana, as defined in 21 U.S.C. 802(16), in a U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved product or subject to a state medical marijuana license.” 21 CFR 1308.13(g)(2)
• As of the eCFR’s Sept. 22, 2026, issue, Schedule I lists “Tetrahydrocannabinols” at 21 CFR 1308.11(d)(31), meaning those “naturally contained in a plant of the genus Cannabis (cannabis plant), as well as synthetic equivalents of the substances contained in the cannabis plant, or in the resinous extractives of such plant, and/or synthetic substances, derivatives, and their isomers with similar chemical structure and pharmacological activity to those substances contained in the plant.” 21 CFR 1308.11(d)(31)
• The same issue lists in Schedule III, at 21 CFR 1308.13(g)(4), “Naturally derived delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinols in a U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved product or in marijuana subject to a state medical marijuana license,” which “do not include any material, compound, mixture, or preparation that falls within the definition of hemp set forth in 7 U.S.C. 1639o.” 21 CFR 1308.13(g)(4)
• As of the eCFR’s Sept. 22, 2026, issue, Schedule III lists, at 21 CFR 1308.13(g)(1), “Dronabinol (synthetic) in sesame oil and encapsulated in a soft gelatin capsule in a U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved product.” 21 CFR 1308.13(g)(1)
• The same issue lists in Schedule II, at 21 CFR 1308.12(f)(2), “Dronabinol [(-)-delta-9-trans tetrahydrocannabinol] in an oral solution in a drug product approved for marketing by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.” 21 CFR 1308.12(f)(2)
• Schedule I’s hallucinogen paragraph covers “any material, compound, mixture, or preparation, which contains any quantity of” a listed substance “or which contains any of its salts, isomers, and salts of isomers whenever the existence of such salts, isomers, and salts of isomers is possible within the specific chemical designation,” “unless specifically excepted or unless listed in another schedule.” 21 CFR 1308.11(d)
• The law defines marijuana as all parts of the plant Cannabis sativa L., growing or not, its seeds, the resin extracted from any part of it, and every compound, manufacture, salt, derivative, mixture or preparation of the plant, its seeds or resin, with two exclusions. U.S. Code
• The law’s definition of marijuana does not include “hemp, as defined in section 1639o of title 7.” U.S. Code
• The marijuana definition also excludes the plant’s mature stalks, fiber made from them, oil or cake made from its seeds, other preparations of those (except resin extracted from them), or sterilized seed that can’t germinate. U.S. Code
• Until the amendment below takes effect, the law defines hemp as the plant Cannabis sativa L. and any part of it, growing or not, including seeds and all derivatives, extracts, cannabinoids, isomers, acids, salts and salts of isomers, with a delta-9 tetrahydrocannabinol concentration of not more than 0.3% on a dry weight basis. U.S. Code
• Pub. L. 119-37, approved Nov. 12, 2025, rewrites that definition effective 365 days after its enactment (Nov. 12, 2026). The new definition will measure hemp by “total tetrahydrocannabinols concentration (including tetrahydrocannabinolic acid),” still at not more than 0.3% on a dry weight basis, and will exclude some hemp-derived cannabinoid products. U.S. Code
• Schedule I’s tetrahydrocannabinols entry “does not include any material, compound, mixture, or preparation that falls within the definition of hemp set forth in 7 U.S.C. 1639o.” 21 CFR 1308.11(d)(31)(ii)

Substances Not on the List

• A controlled substance analogue is treated as a Schedule I substance for the purposes of any federal law, to the extent it is intended for human consumption. U.S. Code
• The law’s definition of a controlled substance analogue lists three parts: a chemical structure substantially similar to that of a Schedule I or II substance; a stimulant, depressant or hallucinogenic effect “substantially similar to or greater than” that substance’s; or, for a particular person, such an effect that the person represents or intends. U.S. Code
• A controlled substance, or a substance with an approved new drug application, is not an analogue. U.S. Code
• Federal and state drug laws both apply: the federal law isn’t meant to push aside state law on the same subject, including criminal penalties, unless the two are in “positive conflict” so that they “cannot consistently stand together.” U.S. Code
• This lookup quotes the eCFR issue of 21 CFR Part 1308 dated Sept. 22, 2026; the schedules there are “changed, updated, and republished from time to time.” 21 CFR 1308.01

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