Controlled Substances Act

The Controlled Substances Act is Title II of the Comprehensive Drug Abuse Prevention and Control Act of 1970 (Pub. L. 91-513), codified at 21 U.S.C. §§ 801–971. The CSA is the foundational federal statute governing the manufacture, importation, possession, use, and distribution of controlled substances. It establishes the five-schedule classification system, the DEA registration regime for handlers, criminal penalties for unauthorized conduct, and the administrative rescheduling process (21 U.S.C. § 811). The CSA defines "marihuana" at 21 U.S.C. § 802(16) — using the archaic statutory spelling — and excludes hemp (as defined by the 2018 Farm Bill) from that definition. In Gonzales v. Raich, 545 U.S. 1 (2005), the Supreme Court held that Congress's Commerce Clause power reaches intrastate, non-commercial cultivation of cannabis for personal medical use, cementing federal authority over state-legal cannabis activity. Nothing in state legalization laws preempts or displaces the CSA; state programs operate in the zone of federal non-enforcement discretion. *→ See also: DEA, Schedule I, Marihuana