General Laws of Massachusetts - Chapter 94C Controlled Substances Act

• Massachusetts General Laws - Definitions - Chapter 94C, Section 1
  As used in this chapter, the following words shall, unless the context clearly requires otherwise, have the following meanings:   "Administer'', the direct application of a...
• Massachusetts General Laws - Establishment of schedules of drugs or other controlled substances - Chapter 94C, Section 2
  (a) For the purpose of administration and regulation of the manufacture, distribution, dispensing, and possession of controlled substances by persons authorized under this chapter, the...
• Massachusetts General Laws - Temporary placement of substance in schedule I - Chapter 94C, Section 2A
  [ Text of section added by 2014, 258, Sec. 12 effective August 6, 2014.] (a) Notwithstanding section 2, the commissioner may, by order, place a...
• Massachusetts General Laws - Findings required for placement in schedules - Chapter 94C, Section 3
  Except in the case of an immediate precursor, a drug or other substance may not be placed in any schedule unless such drug or substance...
• Massachusetts General Laws - Exceptions from schedules - Chapter 94C, Section 4
  The commissioner acting jointly with the board of registration in pharmacy may by regulation pursuant to the provisions of chapter thirty A except any compound,...
• Massachusetts General Laws - Dispensing controlled substances excepted under Sec. 4 - Chapter 94C, Section 5
  Controlled substances which are excepted pursuant to section four may be dispensed, or sold at retail, except that the exception authorized by this section shall...
• Massachusetts General Laws - Rules and regulations - Chapter 94C, Section 6
  The board of registration in pharmacy in the case of a retail drug business or wholesale druggist and the commissioner in all other cases may...
• Massachusetts General Laws - Licensure of certain corporate entities with patients receiving opioid agonist therapy; best practice guidance for practitioners - Chapter 94C, Section 6A
  A corporate entity, other than a hospital or clinic licensed under section 51 of chapter 111 or an opioid treatment program licensed under chapter 111E,...
• Massachusetts General Laws - Registration of persons who manufacture, distribute, dispense or possess controlled substances - Chapter 94C, Section 7
  (a) Except in the case of a pharmacy or wholesale druggist, every person who manufactures, distributes or dispenses, or possesses with intent to manufacture, distribute...
• Massachusetts General Laws - Registration as participant in prescription monitoring program - Chapter 94C, Section 7A
  [ Text of section effective until January 1, 2015. For text effective January 1, 2015, see below.] Upon obtaining or renewing a registration under section...
• Massachusetts General Laws - Research projects and studies - Chapter 94C, Section 8
  (a) No person shall carry out any research project or study involving any narcotic drug in Schedule II or the investigational use on human beings...
• Massachusetts General Laws - Administering and dispensing of controlled substances in course of professional practice; records, inspection - Chapter 94C, Section 9
  (a) A physician, dentist, podiatrist, optometrist as limited by sections 66 and 66B of chapter 112 and subsection (h) of section 7, nurse practitioner and...
• Massachusetts General Laws - Separate registration - Chapter 94C, Section 10
  A separate registration shall be required at each principal place of business or professional practice where the registrant manufactures, distributes, or dispenses controlled substances.
• Massachusetts General Laws - Inspection of establishments of registrants or applicants - Chapter 94C, Section 11
  The board of registration in pharmacy in the case of a pharmacy and the commissioner in any case may inspect in accordance with his or...
• Massachusetts General Laws - Issuance of registration to manufacture or distribute controlled substances - Chapter 94C, Section 12
  (a) The board of registration in pharmacy in the case of a retail drug business or wholesale druggist and the commissioner in all other cases...
• Massachusetts General Laws - Suspension or revocation of registration; report of criminal violations; controlled substances affected placed under embargo; forfeiture; notice to bureau - Chapter 94C, Section 13
  (a) The board of registration in pharmacy in the case of a retail drug business or wholesale druggist and the commissioner in all other cases...
• Massachusetts General Laws - Suspension of or refusal to renew registration pending proceedings in cases of imminent danger to public - Chapter 94C, Section 14
  The board of registration in pharmacy in the case of a retail drug business or wholesale druggist or the commissioner in all other cases may...
• Massachusetts General Laws - Record-keeping and inventory requirements; filing of DEA Form 106 with city, town and state police departments upon discovery of theft or loss of controlled substance - Chapter 94C, Section 15
  Persons registered to manufacture, distribute, dispense, or possess controlled substances shall keep records and maintain inventories in conformance with the record-keeping and inventory requirements of...
• Massachusetts General Laws - Distribution between registrants; order form - Chapter 94C, Section 16
  Controlled substances in Schedules I and II shall be distributed by a registrant to another registrant only pursuant to such order form as may be...
• Massachusetts General Laws - Necessity of prescription for dispensing controlled substances - Chapter 94C, Section 17
  (a) No controlled substance in Schedule II may be dispensed without the written prescription of a practitioner, except that— (b) In emergency situations, as defined...
• Massachusetts General Laws - Issuance of prescription by practitioner or physician - Chapter 94C, Section 18
  (a) A prescription for a controlled substance may be issued only by a practitioner who is:  (1) authorized to prescribe controlled substances; and  (2) registered pursuant to...
• Massachusetts General Laws - Prescription; restrictions on issuance - Chapter 94C, Section 19
  (a) A prescription for a controlled substance to be valid shall be issued for a legitimate medical purpose by a practitioner acting in the usual...
• Massachusetts General Laws - Emergency contraception - Chapter 94C, Section 19A
  (a) As used in this section “emergency contraception” shall, unless the context clearly requires otherwise, mean any drug approved by the federal Food and Drug...
• Massachusetts General Laws - Opioid antagonist - Chapter 94C, Section 19B
  [ Text of section added by 2014, 165, Sec. 132 effective July 1, 2014. See 2014, 165, Sec. 291.] (a) As used in this section...
• Massachusetts General Laws - Oral prescriptions - Chapter 94C, Section 20
  (a) Upon receiving an oral prescription for a controlled substance or instrument described in section twenty-seven from an authorized practitioner, the pharmacist shall immediately reduce...
• Massachusetts General Laws - Radiopharmaceutical drugs - Chapter 94C, Section 20A
  Notwithstanding any other provisions of this chapter, a prescription for a radiopharmaceutical drug shall be dispensed only to an individual authorized by the nuclear regulatory...
• Massachusetts General Laws - Packaging and labeling by pharmacist filling prescription; distribution of educational pamphlet - Chapter 94C, Section 21
  The pharmacist filling a written or oral prescription for a controlled substance shall package the controlled substance in a container, affixing to the container a...
• Massachusetts General Laws - Prescriptions; prospective drug review and counseling by pharmacist - Chapter 94C, Section 21A
  A pharmacist shall conduct a prospective drug review before each new prescription is dispensed or delivered to a patient or a person acting on behalf...
• Massachusetts General Laws - Advertisement and sale of prescription lock boxes by pharmacies - Chapter 94C, Section 21B
  (a) For the purposes of this section, the following words shall have the following meanings unless the context clearly requires otherwise: “Lock box”, a box...
• Massachusetts General Laws - Contents of prescription written by practitioner - Chapter 94C, Section 22
  (a) A practitioner who dispenses a controlled substance by issuing a written prescription shall state on the prescription the name, address and registration number of...
• Massachusetts General Laws - Written prescriptions; requirements and restrictions - Chapter 94C, Section 23
  (a) A written prescription for a controlled substance in Schedule II shall become invalid 30 days after the date of issuance. (b) A written prescription...
• Massachusetts General Laws - Dispensing by practitioner for narcotic drug research or treatment of drug dependent persons - Chapter 94C, Section 24
  (a) If the commissioner determines that a research subject or patient is receiving a controlled substance from more than one source and in quantities which...
• Massachusetts General Laws - Electronic monitoring of the prescribing and dispensing of controlled substances and certain additional drugs - Chapter 94C, Section 24A
  (a)(1) The department shall establish and maintain an electronic system to monitor the prescribing and dispensing of all schedule II to V, inclusive, controlled substances...
• Massachusetts General Laws - Restrictions - Chapter 94C, Section 25
  No person— (1) who is subject to the requirements of sections six and seven and twelve to seventeen, inclusive, shall dispense a controlled substance in...
• Massachusetts General Laws - Distribution in course of business in violation of Sec. 16 or furnishing false information in application, etc., prohibited - Chapter 94C, Section 26
  No person who is a registrant shall knowingly or intentionally; (1) distribute a controlled substance classified in Schedule I or II in the course of...
• Massachusetts General Laws - Sale of hypodermic syringes or hypodermic needles - Chapter 94C, Section 27
  Hypodermic syringes or hypodermic needles for the administration of controlled substances by injection may be sold in the commonwealth, but only to persons who have...
• Massachusetts General Laws - Collection and disposal of spent non-commercially generated hypodermic needles and lancets - Chapter 94C, Section 27A
  (a) Notwithstanding any general or special law to the contrary, the department of environmental protection and the department of public health, in conjunction with other...
• Massachusetts General Laws - Jurisdiction of superior court - Chapter 94C, Section 28
  Upon petition of the board of registration in pharmacy or the commissioner in the case of a pharmacy, or upon petition of the commissioner in...
• Massachusetts General Laws - Educational programs for prevention of abuse of controlled substances - Chapter 94C, Section 29
  (a) The commissioner in cooperation with the commissioner of mental health and the commissioner of education shall carry out educational programs designed to prevent and...
• Massachusetts General Laws - Administrative inspection of controlled premises - Chapter 94C, Section 30
  (a) Administrative inspection warrants shall issue for the inspection of controlled premises in accordance with the provisions of this section. As used in this section...
• Massachusetts General Laws - Classes of controlled substances; establishment of criminal penalties for violations of this chapter - Chapter 94C, Section 31
  For the purposes of establishing criminal penalties for violation of a provision of this chapter, there are established the following five classes of controlled substances:...
• Massachusetts General Laws - Class A controlled substances; unlawful manufacture, distribution, dispensing or possession with intent to manufacture, etc.; eligibility for parole - Chapter 94C, Section 32
  (a) Any person who knowingly or intentionally manufactures, distributes, dispenses, or possesses with intent to manufacture, distribute or dispense a controlled substance in Class A...
• Massachusetts General Laws - Class B controlled substances; unlawful manufacture, distribution, dispensing or possession with intent to manufacture, etc.; eligibility for parole - Chapter 94C, Section 32A
  (a) Any person who knowingly or intentionally manufactures, distributes, dispenses, or possesses with intent to manufacture, distribute or dispense a controlled substance in Class B...
• Massachusetts General Laws - Class C controlled substances; unlawful manufacturer, distribution, dispensing or possession with intent to manufacture, etc.; eligibility for parole - Chapter 94C, Section 32B
  (a) Any person who knowingly or intentionally manufactures, distributes, dispenses, or possesses with intent to manufacture, distribute, or dispense a controlled substance in Class C...
• Massachusetts General Laws - Class D controlled substances; unlawful manufacture, distribution, dispensing, cultivation or possession with intent to manufacture, etc. - Chapter 94C, Section 32C
  (a) Any person who knowingly or intentionally manufactures, distributes, dispenses or cultivates, or possesses with intent to manufacture, distribute, dispense or cultivate a controlled substance...
• Massachusetts General Laws - Class E controlled substances; unlawful manufacture, distribution, dispensing, or possession with intent to manufacture, etc. - Chapter 94C, Section 32D
  (a) Any person who knowingly or intentionally manufactures, distributes, dispenses or possesses with intent to manufacture, distribute, or dispense a controlled substance in Class E...
• Massachusetts General Laws - Trafficking in marihuana, cocaine, heroin, morphine, opium, etc.; eligibility for parole - Chapter 94C, Section 32E
  (a) Any person who trafficks in marihuana by knowingly or intentionally manufacturing, distributing, dispensing, or cultivating or possessing with intent to manufacture, distribute, dispense, or...
• Massachusetts General Laws - Unlawful manufacture, distribution, dispensing or possession with intent to manufacture, etc. of controlled substances in Classes A to C to minors - Chapter 94C, Section 32F
  (a) Any person who knowingly or intentionally manufactures, distributes, dispenses, or possesses with intent to manufacture, distribute, or dispense a controlled substance in Class A...
• Massachusetts General Laws - Counterfeit substances; unlawful creation, distribution, dispensing or possession with intent to distribute or dispense - Chapter 94C, Section 32G
  Any person who knowingly or intentionally creates, distributes, dispenses or possesses with intent to distribute or dispense a counterfeit substance shall be punished by imprisonment...
• Massachusetts General Laws - Prosecutions not to be continued or placed on file; suspension or reduction of sentence; eligibility for parole, etc. - Chapter 94C, Section 32H
  A prosecution commenced under paragraph (b) of section thirty-two, paragraphs (b), (c) and (d) of section thirty-two A, paragraph (b) of section thirty-two B, sections...
• Massachusetts General Laws - Drug paraphernalia; sale, possession or manufacture with intent to sell; penalty; sale of tobacco rolling papers - Chapter 94C, Section 32I
  (a) No person shall sell, possess or purchase with intent to sell, or manufacture with intent to sell drug paraphernalia, knowing, or under circumstances where...
• Massachusetts General Laws - Controlled substances violations in, on, or near school property; eligibility for parole - Chapter 94C, Section 32J
  Any person who violates the provisions of section thirty-two, thirty-two A, thirty-two B, thirty-two C, thirty-two D, thirty-two E, thirty-two F or thirty-two I while...
• Massachusetts General Laws - Inducing or abetting minor to distribute or sell controlled substances - Chapter 94C, Section 32K
  Any person who knowingly causes, induces or abets a person under the age of eighteen to distribute, dispense or possess with the intent to distribute...
• Massachusetts General Laws - Possession of one ounce or less of marihuana; civil penalty and forfeiture; other sanctions or disqualifications prohibited - Chapter 94C, Section 32L
  Notwithstanding any general or special law to the contrary, possession of one ounce or less of marihuana shall only be a civil offense, subjecting an...
• Massachusetts General Laws - Possession of one ounce or less of marihuana; drug awareness program - Chapter 94C, Section 32M
  An offender under the age of eighteen is required to complete a drug awareness program within one year of the offense for possession of one...
• Massachusetts General Laws - Possession of one ounce or less of marihuana; enforcement consistent with non-criminal disposition provisions of Sec. 21D of Chapter 40; duty of police department; notice; failure to file certificate of completion of drug awareness program - Chapter 94C, Section 32N
  The police department serving each political subdivision of the Commonwealth shall enforce Section 32L in a manner consistent with the non-criminal disposition provisions of Section...
• Massachusetts General Laws - Unlawful use of registration numbers in manufacture or distribution, or fraudulently obtaining possession, of controlled substances; criminal penalties - Chapter 94C, Section 33
  (a) No person shall knowingly or intentionally use in the course of the manufacture or distribution of a controlled substance a registration number which is...
• Massachusetts General Laws - Unlawful possession of particular controlled substances, including heroin and marihuana - Chapter 94C, Section 34
  No person knowingly or intentionally shall possess a controlled substance unless such substance was obtained directly, or pursuant to a valid prescription or order, from...
• Massachusetts General Laws - Immunity from prosecution under Secs. 34 or 35 for persons seeking medical assistance for self or other experiencing drug-related overdose - Chapter 94C, Section 34A
  (a) A person who, in good faith, seeks medical assistance for someone experiencing a drug-related overdose shall not be charged or prosecuted for possession of...
• Massachusetts General Laws - Unlawful presence at a place where heroin is kept or being in company of person in possession thereof - Chapter 94C, Section 35
  Any person who is knowingly present at a place where heroin is kept or deposited in violation of the provisions of this chapter, or any...
• Massachusetts General Laws - Protective custody of children found present where controlled substances are unlawfully kept or possessed - Chapter 94C, Section 36
  [ Text of section effective until September 18, 2013. For text effective September 18, 2013, see below.]Notwithstanding the provisions of section thirty-five, if a police...
• Massachusetts General Laws - Theft of controlled substances from persons authorized to dispense or possess - Chapter 94C, Section 37
  Whoever steals a controlled substance from a registered manufacturer, wholesale druggist, pharmacy or other person authorized to dispense or possess any controlled substance shall be...
• Massachusetts General Laws - Violation of Secs. 24(a), 25, 26 or 27 - Chapter 94C, Section 38
  Any person who knowingly violates any provision of subsection (a) of section twenty-four, or of section twenty-five, twenty-six or twenty-seven shall be punished by imprisonment...
• Massachusetts General Laws - Violation of Secs. 21 or 22 - Chapter 94C, Section 39
  Any person who knowingly violates any provision of sections twenty-one or twenty-two shall be punished by imprisonment for not more than six months or by...
• Massachusetts General Laws - Conspiracy - Chapter 94C, Section 40
  Whoever conspires with another person to violate any provision of this chapter shall be punished by imprisonment or fine, or both, which punishment shall not...
• Massachusetts General Laws - Arrest without warrant - Chapter 94C, Section 41
  A police officer shall have the authority to arrest without a warrant: (a) any person committing in his presence any offense set forth in this...
• Massachusetts General Laws - Cooperation with federal and other state agencies - Chapter 94C, Section 42
  The commissioner and the attorney general shall cooperate with federal and other state agencies in discharging their responsibilities concerning traffic in controlled substances and in...
• Massachusetts General Laws - Conformity with federal acts - Chapter 94C, Section 43
  Notwithstanding any other provisions of this chapter, no practitioner shall dispense, distribute, administer, or possess any controlled substance except in conformity with the provisions of...
• Massachusetts General Laws - Violations of Sec. 34; acquittal, dismissal or indictment nol prossed; sealing of records - Chapter 94C, Section 44
  If any person is found not guilty of the violation of any provision of section thirty-four or if a complaint against him is dismissed or...
• Massachusetts General Laws - Photographing and fingerprinting of persons charged with felony - Chapter 94C, Section 45
  Any person arrested for or charged with the criminal violation of any provision of this chapter which constitutes a felony may at the time of...
• Massachusetts General Laws - Repealed, 1978, 508, Sec. 1 - Chapter 94C, Section 46
  Repealed, 1978, 508, Sec.
• Massachusetts General Laws - Forfeiture of property - Chapter 94C, Section 47
  (a) The following property shall be subject to forfeiture to the commonwealth and all property rights therein shall be in the commonwealth: (1) All controlled...
• Massachusetts General Laws - Seized controlled substances and narcotic drugs; custodian; mailing for chemical analysis; destruction or disposal upon completion of trial - Chapter 94C, Section 47A
  The police commissioner, chief superintendent or other officer or board at the head of each police department in the commonwealth shall appoint a police officer...
• Massachusetts General Laws - Severability - Chapter 94C, Section 48
  If any provision of this chapter or the application thereof to any person or circumstance is held invalid, the invalidity does not affect other provisions...
• Massachusetts General Laws - Enforcement of Sec. 24A - Chapter 94C, Section 49
  The department of public health shall enforce section 24A in accordance with rules and regulations promulgated by the department.

Last modified: September 11, 2015