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ARIZONA STATE SENATE
Fifty-Seventh Legislature, Second Regular Session
approved medications; scheduling; prescription authority
Purpose
Aligns Arizona
controlled substance schedules with federal scheduling by specifying that any
compound, mixture or preparation approved by the U.S. Food and Drug
Administration
(FDA) and scheduled or rescheduled by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration
(DEA) is assigned the same schedule under Arizona law and may be prescribed if
not listed as a Schedule I substance.
Background
The federal Controlled Substances Act (CSA) classifies regulated substances into one of five schedules based on a substance’s medical use, potential for abuse and risk of dependence. Under federal law, substances approved by the FDA and scheduled or rescheduled through the DEA are assigned a federal schedule pursuant to the CSA (U.S. DEA; 21 U.S.C. §§ 355 and 811).
Current statute directs the Arizona State Board of Pharmacy (Board) to adopt the DEA's federal schedules under Board rule and to amend the rules as necessary to reflect any federal drug schedule changes (A.R.S. §§ 36-2512, 36-2513, 36-2514, 36-2515 and 36-2516).
There is no anticipated fiscal impact to the state General Fund associated with this legislation.
Provisions
1. Specifies that, regardless of any other statutes relating to controlled substances and without any further action by the Board:
b) any compound, mixture or preparation that is approved by the FDA and scheduled or rescheduled by the DEA to a schedule other than Schedule I of the CSA is a controlled substance under Arizona law and may be prescribed.
2. Becomes effective on the general effective date.
Prepared by Senate Research
January 26, 2026
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