Prescription (cannabis)

A prescription is a DEA-authorized order from a licensed practitioner for a patient to receive a controlled substance from a pharmacy. Cannabis cannot be "prescribed" under federal law because it is a Schedule I controlled substance with "no currently accepted medical use" in the eyes of the CSA; DEA registrants may not issue prescriptions for Schedule I substances. State medical cannabis laws therefore use the term "recommendation" or "certification" rather than "prescription." The notable exception is Texas, whose Compassionate Use Act uses "prescribe" as a state-law terminology choice, even though the practitioner's action does not constitute a federally recognized prescription. FDA-approved cannabinoid drugs can be prescribed under the appropriate schedule: Epidiolex (Schedule V); Marinol/Syndros (dronabinol, Schedule III and II respectively); and Cesamet (nabilone, Schedule II). If cannabis is rescheduled to Schedule III under the pending DEA rulemaking, prescription of botanical cannabis would remain unavailable absent an FDA-approved drug product — rescheduling alone does not create a prescription pathway. *→ See also: Recommendation, Schedule I, Rescheduling, FDA