Schedule III Controlled Substances; Lower Risk?
Substances for sale and distribution in the United States intended for human use – and especially human ingestion – are regulated by the federal government. This is true for food, medications and other substances. In the case of medication, the government keeps a very close eye on these substances, involving the Justice Department, the Drug Enforcement Agency, the Department of Agriculture and other agencies to ensure substances are used for their intended purposes and not for abuse.
Under the Controlled Substances Act (CSA), all substances are categorized according to whether or not they have a medical application, the potential for abuse, anticipated safety of the substance and how easily people can develop a dependency, whether the substance is taken by prescription or for recreational purposes.
Substances that fall under Schedule III of the CSA are considered to have less potential for abuse than those substances that are listed under Schedule I or II. These substances do have an accepted medical purpose in treatment methods in the United States and abuse of such substances is considered to be moderate or low, although psychological dependence could be high.
Drugs that fall under Schedule III of the CSA include substances such as Anabolic steroids, codeine and hydrocodone with aspirin or Tylenol. There are some barbiturates that also fall under this schedule, although not all are included due to their potential for abuse.
For those manufacturers and retail establishments who distribute Schedule III substances, careful records must be kept on all distributions. Records do not have to be kept separate from all other documentation, much like the practice required for Schedule II substances.
Prescriptions written for Schedule III substances can be called-in to the pharmacy and refills can be assigned to the prescription. In fact, patients have the option of refilling the prescription as many as five times within six months of the issue of the prescription.
An interesting fact about the CSA is that it is written to allow for substances to be easily added and removed, or moved to another schedule if necessary. Substances that become a highly demanded drug on the black market may need to be included in a higher classification than originally determined.
The U.S. government relies heavily on historical data associated with certain substances in order to determine the risk for abuse. The trend toward abusing prescription medications has everyone taking a closer look at these classifications and security methods put in place to identify weak links in a system that could be improved.
As it stands, Schedule III controlled substances do not pose as high a risk for abuse as other substances, which make them easier to obtain. This ease, unfortunately, exists both in legal and illegal methods, which could ultimately change the schedule outcome in the future.