South Carolina Code 44-53-290. Requirement of and authority granted by registration; individuals exempt from registration; registration for maintenance and detoxification treatment
(b) Persons registered by the Department under this article to manufacture, distribute, dispense, or conduct research with controlled substances may possess, manufacture, distribute, dispense, or conduct research with those substances to the extent authorized by their registration and in conformity with the other provisions of this article.
Terms Used In South Carolina Code 44-53-290
- Agent: means an authorized person who acts on behalf of or at the direction of a manufacturer, distributor, or dispenser, except that this term does not include a common or contract carrier, public warehouseman, or employee of the carrier or warehouseman, when acting in the usual or lawful course of the carrier's or warehouseman's business. See South Carolina Code 44-53-110
- Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
- Controlled substance: means a drug, substance, or immediate precursor in Schedules I through V in Sections 44-53-190, 44-53-210, 44-53-230, 44-53-250, and 44-53-270. See South Carolina Code 44-53-110
- Department: means the State Department of Health and Environmental Control. See South Carolina Code 44-53-110
- Detoxification treatment: means the dispensing, for a period not in excess of twenty-one days, of a narcotic drug in decreasing doses to an individual in order to alleviate adverse physiological or psychological effects incident to withdrawal from the continuous or sustained use of a narcotic drug and as a method of bringing the individual to a narcotic drug-free state within this period. See South Carolina Code 44-53-110
- Dispense: means to deliver a controlled substance to an ultimate user or research subject by or pursuant to the lawful order of a practitioner, including the prescribing, administering, packaging, labeling, or compounding necessary to prepare the substance for the delivery. See South Carolina Code 44-53-110
- Dispenser: means a practitioner who delivers a controlled substance to the ultimate user or research subject. See South Carolina Code 44-53-110
- Distribute: means to deliver (other than by administering or dispensing) a controlled substance. See South Carolina Code 44-53-110
- Distributor: means a person who so delivers a controlled substance. See South Carolina Code 44-53-110
- Maintenance treatment: means the dispensing, for a period in excess of twenty-one days, of a narcotic drug in the treatment of an individual for dependence upon heroin or other morphine-like drugs. See South Carolina Code 44-53-110
- Manufacture: means the production, preparation, propagation, compounding, conversion, or processing of a controlled substance, either directly or indirectly by extraction from substances of natural origin, or independently by means of chemical synthesis, or by a combination of extraction and chemical synthesis, and includes any packaging or repackaging of the substance or labeling or relabeling of its container, except that this term does not include the preparation or compounding of a controlled substance by an individual for his own use or the preparation, compounding, packaging, or labeling of a controlled substance:
(a) by a practitioner as an incident to his administering or dispensing of a controlled substance in the course of his professional practice; or
(b) by a practitioner, or by his authorized agent under his supervision, for the purpose of, or as an incident to, research, teaching, or chemical analysis and not for sale. See South Carolina Code 44-53-110 - Manufacturer: means any person who packages, repackages, or labels any container of any controlled substance, except practitioners who dispense or compound prescription orders for delivery to the ultimate consumer. See South Carolina Code 44-53-110
- Practitioner: means :
(a) a physician, dentist, veterinarian, podiatrist, scientific investigator, or other person licensed, registered, or otherwise permitted to distribute, dispense, conduct research with respect to, or to administer a controlled substance in the course of professional practice or research in this State;
(b) a pharmacy, hospital, or other institution licensed, registered, or otherwise permitted to distribute, dispense, conduct research with respect to, or to administer a controlled substance in the course of professional practice or research in this State. See South Carolina Code 44-53-110 - Ultimate user: means a person who lawfully possesses a controlled substance for his own use or for the use of a member of his household or for administration to an animal owned by him or a member of his household. See South Carolina Code 44-53-110
(c) The following persons need not register and may lawfully possess controlled substances under this article:
(1) An agent or employee of any registered manufacturer, distributor, or dispenser of any controlled substance if he is acting in the usual course of his business or employment;
(2) A common or contract carrier or warehouseman, or an employee thereof, whose possession of any controlled substance is in the usual course of business or employment;
(3) An ultimate user or a person in possession of any controlled substance pursuant to a lawful order of a practitioner or in lawful possession of a Schedule V substance.
(d) The Department may, by regulation, waive the requirement for registration of certain manufacturers, distributors or dispensers if it finds it consistent with the public health and safety.
(e) A separate registration shall be required at each principal place of business or professional practice where the applicant manufactures, distributes or dispenses controlled substances.
(f) The Department is authorized to inspect the establishment of a registrant or an applicant for a registration in accordance with the rules and regulations promulgated by it.
(g) The Department may authorize persons engaged in research on the use and effects of controlled substances to withhold the names and other identifying characteristics of individuals who are the subjects of the research. Persons who obtain this authorization are not compelled in any civil, criminal, administrative, legislative, or other proceeding to identify the individuals who are the subjects of research for which the authorization was obtained.
(h) The Department may authorize the possession and distribution of controlled substances by persons engaged in research. Persons who obtain this authorization are exempt from State prosecution for possession and distribution of controlled substances to the extent of the authorization.
(i) Practitioners who dispense narcotic drugs to individuals for maintenance treatment or detoxification treatment shall obtain annually a separate registration for that purpose. The board shall register an applicant to dispense but not prescribe narcotic drugs to individuals for maintenance treatment or detoxification treatment, or both:
(1) if the applicant is a practitioner who is otherwise qualified to be registered under the provisions of this article to engage in the treatment with respect to which registration has been sought;
(2) if the board determines that the applicant will comply with standards established by the board respecting security of stocks of narcotic drugs for such treatment, and the maintenance of records in accordance with § 44-53-340 and the rules issued by the board on such drugs; and
(3) if the board determines that the applicant will comply with standards established by the board respecting the quantities of narcotic drugs which may be provided for unsupervised use by individuals in such treatment.
(j) Pursuant to the procedures set forth in § 44-53-300, the department may issue a registration to a licensed nurse practitioner, certified nurse-midwife, or clinical nurse specialist authorized to prescribe controlled substances by the State Board of Nursing for South Carolina, consistent with such prescription authorization. The department also may issue a registration, pursuant to the procedures set forth in § 44-53-300, to a licensed physician assistant authorized to prescribe controlled substances by the State Board of Medical Examiners, consistent with such prescription authorization. A nurse practitioner, certified nurse-midwife, clinical nurse specialist, or physician assistant registered by the department pursuant to this subsection may not acquire, possess, or dispense, other than by prescription, a controlled substance except as provided by law.