Title 21Food and DrugsRelease 119-73

§813 Treatment of controlled substance analogues

Title 21 › Chapter CHAPTER 13— - DRUG ABUSE PREVENTION AND CONTROL › Subchapter SUBCHAPTER I— - CONTROL AND ENFORCEMENT › Part Part B— - Authority To Control; Standards and Schedules › § 813

Last updated Apr 6, 2026|Official source

Summary

A chemical that is basically the same as an illegal drug must be treated as a Schedule I controlled substance under federal law if it is meant for people to use. To decide if it was meant for people, officials can look at how it was sold, advertised, or labeled; whether it actually works for the claimed use; big price differences; secret or illegal importing, making, or selling; whether the seller knew people would inject, inhale, swallow, or otherwise use it; and if it was made or sold to avoid drug laws. A label saying it is not for people to use, by itself, does not prove it wasn’t meant for people.

Full Legal Text

Title 21, §813

Food and Drugs — Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)A controlled substance analogue shall, to the extent intended for human consumption, be treated, for the purposes of any Federal law as a controlled substance in schedule I.
(b)In determining whether a controlled substance analogue was intended for human consumption under subsection (a), the following factors may be considered, along with any other relevant factors:
(1)The marketing, advertising, and labeling of the substance.
(2)The known efficacy or usefulness of the substance for the marketed, advertised, or labeled purpose.
(3)The difference between the price at which the substance is sold and the price at which the substance it is purported to be or advertised as is normally sold.
(4)The diversion of the substance from legitimate channels and the clandestine importation, manufacture, or distribution of the substance.
(5)Whether the defendant knew or should have known the substance was intended to be consumed by injection, inhalation, ingestion, or any other immediate means.
(6)Any controlled substance analogue that is manufactured, formulated, sold, distributed, or marketed with the intent to avoid the provisions of existing drug laws.
(c)For purposes of this section, evidence that a substance was not marketed, advertised, or labeled for human consumption, by itself, shall not be sufficient to establish that the substance was not intended for human consumption.

Legislative History

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

References in Text

Schedule I, referred to in subsec. (a), is set out in section 812(c) of this title.

Amendments

2018—Pub. L. 115–271 designated existing provisions as subsec. (a), inserted heading, and added subsecs. (b) and (c). 1988—Pub. L. 100–690 substituted “any Federal law” for “this subchapter and subchapter II of this chapter”.

Reference

Citations & Metadata

Citation

21 U.S.C. § 813

Title 21Food and Drugs

Last Updated

Apr 6, 2026

Release point: 119-73