Title 20 — Public Health and Welfare

(a) (1) There is created within the Division of Aging, Adult, and Behavioral Health Services of the Department of Human Services a position of Arkansas Drug Director.(2) The Arkansas Drug Director shall be appointed by the Governor and shall serve at the pleasure of the Governor.…

(a) There is hereby established the Arkansas Alcohol and Drug Abuse Coordinating Council, hereafter referred to in this subchapter as the “coordinating council”. (b) The coordinating council shall be composed of twenty-seven (27) members as follows:(1) Thirteen (13) members of th…

(a) The Arkansas Alcohol and Drug Abuse Coordinating Council shall have the responsibility for overseeing all planning, budgeting, and implementation of expenditures of state and federal funds allocated for alcohol and drug education, prevention, treatment, and law enforcement. (…

It shall be lawful for eleemosynary institutions, sanatoriums, hospitals, and wholesale druggists having licensed pharmacists in their employ to possess, use, compound, and sell narcotic drugs pursuant to the Federal Narcotic Act and the rules and regulations thereto appertaining…

(a) Any apothecary who is authorized to posses narcotic drugs as defined by the Uniform Narcotic Drug Act, § 20-64-201 et seq., shall keep the narcotic drugs in a safe, or other receptacle equipped with a lock, sufficient to secure the narcotic drugs against theft. (b) Any person…

A.C.A. § 20-64-103Current through all legislation of the 2025 Regular Session.Arkansas Code of 1987 Annotated Official EditionCopyright © 2026 by the State of Arkansas All rights reserved

A search warrant relating to offenses involving drugs regulated under the Uniform Narcotic Drug Act, § 20-64-201 et seq., and the Arkansas Drug Abuse Control Act, § 20-64-301 et seq., may be served at any time of the day or night if the judge of the district or circuit court issu…

(a) The General Assembly finds that:(1) It is beneficial to this state to support patient access to prescription drugs and pharmacy services in a market that ensures that patients can access safe and effective prescription medications with same day access, as well as patient free…

(1) The following words and phrases, as used in this subchapter, shall have the following meanings, unless the context otherwise requires:(1) “Apothecary” means a licensed pharmacist as defined by the laws of this state and, where the context so requires, the owner of a store or …

It shall be unlawful for any person to manufacture, purchase, possess, have under his control, sell, prescribe, administer, dispense, or compound any narcotic drug, except as authorized in this subchapter.

No person shall manufacture, compound, mix, cultivate, grow, or by any other process produce or prepare narcotic drugs, and no person as a wholesaler shall supply the same, without having first obtained a license so to do from the Secretary of the Department of Health.

(a) No license shall be issued under § 20-64-203 unless and until the applicant therefor has furnished proof satisfactory to the Secretary of the Department of Health:(a) That the applicant is of good moral character or, if the applicant be an association or corporation, that the…

(1) A duly licensed manufacturer or wholesaler may sell and dispense narcotic drugs to any of the following persons, but only on official written orders:(a) To a manufacturer, wholesaler, or apothecary;(b) To a physician, dentist, or veterinarian;(c) To a person in charge of a ho…

(1) An apothecary, in good faith, may sell and dispense narcotic drugs to any person upon a written prescription or an oral prescription in pursuance to rules, promulgated by the Secretary of the Department of Health under authority of § 20-64-219, of a physician, dentist, or vet…

(1) Physicians and Dentists. A physician or a dentist, in good faith and in the course of his professional practice only, may prescribe, administer, and dispense narcotic drugs, or he may cause the same to be administered by a nurse or intern under his direction and supervision. …

(a) Except as otherwise in this subchapter specifically provided, this subchapter shall not apply to the following cases:(1) Administering, dispensing, or selling at retail any drug subject to this subchapter under any circumstances that the Secretary of the Department of Health …

(1) Physicians, Dentists, Veterinarians, and Other Authorized Persons. Every physician, dentist, veterinarian, or other person who is authorized to administer or professionally use narcotic drugs shall keep a record of such drugs received by him, and a record of all such drugs ad…

(1) Whenever a manufacturer sells or dispenses a narcotic drug, and whenever a wholesaler sells or dispenses a narcotic drug in a package prepared by him or her, he or she shall securely affix to each package in which that drug is contained a label showing in legible English the …

A person to whom or for whose use any narcotic drug has been prescribed, sold, or dispensed by a physician, dentist, apothecary, or other person authorized under the provisions of § 20-64-205, and the owner of any animal for which any such drug has been prescribed, sold, or dispe…

The provisions of this subchapter restricting the possession and having control of narcotic drugs shall not apply to common carriers or to warehousemen, while engaged in lawfully transporting or storing such drugs, or to any employee of the same acting within the scope of his emp…

Any store, shop, warehouse, dwelling house, building, vehicle, boat, aircraft, or any place whatever, which is resorted to by narcotic drug addicts for the purpose of using narcotic drugs or which is used for the illegal keeping or selling of the same, shall be deemed a common nu…

Upon delivery to the Secretary of the Department of Health of any narcotic drugs discarded by the owner thereof or other person entitled to the possession or custody thereof, and upon the Secretary of the Department of Health delivering to such person an itemized receipt therefor…

On the conviction of any person of the violation of any provision of this subchapter, a copy of the judgment and sentence, and of the opinion of the court or magistrate, if any opinion be filed, shall be sent by the clerk of the court, or by the magistrate, to the board or office…

Prescriptions, orders, and records, required by this subchapter, and stocks of narcotic drugs, shall be open for inspection only to federal, state, county, and municipal officers, whose duty it is to enforce the laws of this state or of the United States relating to narcotic drug…

(1) No person shall obtain or attempt to obtain a narcotic drug, or procure or attempt to procure the administration of a narcotic drug:(a) by fraud, deceit, misrepresentation, or subterfuge; or(b) by the forgery or alteration of a prescription or of any order; or(c) by the conce…

In any complaint, information, or indictment, and in any action or proceeding brought for the enforcement of any provision of this subchapter, it shall not be necessary to negative any exception, excuse, proviso, or exemption contained in this subchapter, and the burden of proof …

It is hereby made the duty of the Secretary of the Department of Health, his or her officers, agents, inspectors, and representatives, and of all peace officers within the state, and of all prosecuting attorneys, to enforce all provisions of this subchapter, except those specific…

(1) Except as provided in subdivision (2) of this section, a person violating any provision of this subchapter commits a felony and upon conviction shall be fined not more than two thousand dollars ($2,000), and be imprisoned in the state penitentiary not less than two (2) nor mo…

No person shall be prosecuted for a violation of any provision of this subchapter if such person has been acquitted or convicted under the federal narcotic laws of the same act or omission which, it is alleged, constitutes a violation of this subchapter.

If any provision of this subchapter or the application thereof to any person or circumstances is held invalid, such invalidity shall not affect other provisions or applications of the subchapter which can be given effect without the invalid provision or application, and to this e…

This subchapter shall be so interpreted and construed as to effectuate its general purpose, to make uniform the laws of those states which enact it.

All acts or parts of acts which are inconsistent with the provisions of this subchapter are repealed.

This subchapter may be cited as the “Uniform Narcotic Drug Act”.

A.C.A. § 20-64-226Current through all legislation of the 2025 Regular Session.Arkansas Code of 1987 Annotated Official EditionCopyright © 2026 by the State of Arkansas All rights reserved

This subchapter may be cited as the “Arkansas Drug Abuse Control Act”.

(1) As used in this subchapter, unless the context otherwise requires:(1) [Repealed.](2) “Counterfeit drug” means a drug which, or the container or labeling of which, without authorization, bears the trademark, trade name, or other identifying mark, imprint, or device, or any lik…

Nothing in this subchapter shall be construed as requiring the State Board of Health to report for the institution of proceedings under this subchapter minor violations of this subchapter whenever the Secretary of the Department of Health believes that the public interest will be…

(a) (1) Any person violating any of the provisions of this subchapter commits a felony and shall, upon conviction, be fined not more than two thousand dollars ($2,000) or be imprisoned in the state penitentiary for not more than two (2) years, or be both fined and imprisoned, in …

It shall be the duty of each prosecuting attorney to whom the State Board of Health reports any violation of this subchapter to cause appropriate proceedings to be instituted in the proper courts without delay and to be prosecuted in the manner required by law.

(1) The following acts and the causing thereof within the State of Arkansas are prohibited:(1) The manufacture, compounding, or processing of a drug in violation of § 20-64-309;(2) The sale, delivery, or other disposition of a drug in violation of § 20-64-310;(3) The possession o…

(1) The following are declared to be contraband and shall be seized and forfeited without warrant by an authorized agent of the State Board of Health whenever he or she has reasonable grounds to believe they are:(1) A depressant or stimulant drug with respect to which a prohibite…

(a) (1) When an article, drug, or other thing is seized and forfeited under the provisions of § 20-64-307, the Secretary of the Department of Health or his or her authorized agent shall, within five (5) days thereafter, publish in a newspaper having a statewide circulation a noti…

(1) No person shall manufacture, compound, or process in this state any depressant or stimulant drug, except that this prohibition shall not apply to the following persons whose activities in connection with any drug are as specified in this section:(1) Manufacturers, compounders…

(1) No person shall sell, deliver, or otherwise dispose of any depressant or stimulant drug or counterfeit drug to any other person unless that person is:(1) A person described in § 20-64-309, while the person is acting in the ordinary and authorized course of his or her business…

(1) No person other than a person described in § 20-64-309 or § 20-64-310(2) shall possess any depressant or stimulant drug unless:(1) The drug was obtained upon a valid prescription and is held in the original container in which the drug was delivered; or(2) The drug was deliver…

(a) No person other than a person described in § 20-64-309(7) shall obtain or attempt to obtain a depressant or stimulant drug by:(1) Fraud, deceit, misrepresentation, or subterfuge;(2) Falsely assuming the title of or representing himself or herself to be a manufacturer, wholesa…

(a) (1) Every person engaged in manufacturing, compounding, processing, selling, delivering, or otherwise disposing of any depressant or stimulant drug shall, on and after June 30, 1967, prepare a complete and accurate record of all stocks of each drug on hand and shall keep the …

(a) (1) (A) A prescription for a depressant or stimulant drug shall not be filled or refilled more than six (6) months after the date on which the prescription was issued.(B) A prescription that is authorized to be refilled shall not be refilled more than five (5) times.(2) Howev…

Depressant or stimulant drugs exempted under section 511(f) of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act and such other drugs as the State Board of Health shall specify are exempted from the application of §§ 20-64-309 — 20-64-315.

(1) Any officer or employee of the Department of Health designated by the Secretary of the Department of Health to conduct examinations, investigations, or inspections under this subchapter relating to depressant or stimulant drugs or to counterfeit drugs may, when so authorized …