16: Scheduling of Drugs in the United States

In this chapter, a brief history of the origin of the controlling of pharmaceuticals and drugs within the US is discussed. In a similar mode to countries such as the UK, control of drugs and pharmaceuticals is maintained by government issued legislation and not by commercial entities or bodies such a trade groups or associations. In the UK, drugs are controlled mainly by the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 at its amendments enacted by Her Majesties government. Introduction of newer or novel drugs/pharmaceuticals into the general market place is overseen by agencies convened by the government of the USA. These agencies are namely the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) and the United States Food and Drug Agency (USDA). Part of their remit is to oversee the safety and efficacy of the drugs drugs/pharmaceuticals by ensuring the appropriate control by use of a scheduling code. In this chapter, the different types of schedules (I through V) are discussed with conditions of fulfilment for the particular drugs to be contained within that schedule. Examples of drugs contained in the particular schedules (I to V) are also given with usage and some pharmacology to assist the reader.