Pursuant to Title 21, Code of Federal Regulations, Section 1300.01(b28), the term mid-level practitioner means an individual practitioner, other than a physician, dentist, veterinarian, or podiatrist, who is licensed, registered, or otherwise permitted by the United States or the jurisdiction in which he/she practices, to dispense a controlled substance in the course of professional practice. Examples of mid-level practitioners include, but are not limited to, health care providers such as nurse practitioners, nurse midwives, nurse anesthetists, clinical nurse specialists and physician assistants who are authorized to dispense controlled substances by the state in which they practice.

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Table Description

The table represents the controlled substances authority for Mid-level Practitioner's by discipline within the state of which they practice.

It indicates the categories of Mid-Level Practitioners by State and the licensing authority granted to each category within that particular State through the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA). If authority is granted, specific schedules are listed along with any special instructions like administer only, dispense only or order only. It may also indicate if the DEA is reviewing a new law to see if it is in fact consistent with the issuance of a DEA registration for controlled substances. If authority is NOT granted for a particular category, a "NO" will be indicated.

The Drugs and drug products that come under the Controlled Substances Act are divided into five schedules. Some examples in each schedule are outlined below.

Schedule I substances (1)

The substances in this schedule are those that have no accepted medical use in the United States and have a high abuse potential. Some examples are heroin, marihuana, LSD, MDMA, peyote.

Schedule II/IIN substances (2/2N)

The substances in this schedule have a high abuse potential with severe psychic or physical dependence liability. Schedule II controlled substances consist of certain narcotic, stimulant and depressant drugs.

Examples of Schedule II narcotic controlled substances are: opium, morphine, codeine, hydromorphone (Dilaudid), methadone, pantopon, meperidine (Demerol), and hydrocodone (Vicodin®).

Examples of Schedule IIN non-narcotic would be Amphetamine, Methamphetamine, Nabilone.

Schedule III/IIIN substances (3/3N)

The substances listed in this schedule have an abuse potential less than those in Schedules I and II, and include compounds containing limited quantities of certain narcotic drugs (Schedule 3) and non-narcotic drugs (Schedule 3N) such as: codeine (Tylenol with Codeine), derivatives of babituric acid except those listed in another schedule, nalorphine, benzphetamine, chlorphentermine, clortemine, phendimetrazine, paregoric and any compound, mixture, preparation or suppository dosage form containing amobarbital, secobarbital or pentobarbital.

Examples of Schedule III narcotics include: products containing not more than 90 milligrams of codeine per dosage unit (Tylenol with Codeine®), and buprenorphine (Suboxone®).

Examples of Schedule IIIN non-narcotics include: benzphetamine (Didrex®), phendimetrazine, ketamine, and anabolic steroids such as Depo®-Testosterone.

Schedule IV substances (4)

The substances in this schedule have an abuse potential less than those listed in Schedule III and include such drugs as: barbital, phenobarbital, chloral hydtrate, clorazepate (Tranxene), alprazolam (Xanax), Quazepam (Dormalin).

Schedule V substances (5)

The substances in this schedule have an abuse potential less than those listed in Schedule IV and consist primarily of preparations containing limited quantities of certain narcotic and stimulant drugs generally for antitussive, antidiarrheal and analgesic purposes. Some examples are buprenorphine and propylhexedrine.

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