(a) It is an offense for a person to:

Attorney's Note

Under the Tennessee Code, punishments for crimes depend on the classification. In the case of this section:
ClassPrisonFine
class E felony1 to 6 yearsup to $3,000
class A misdemeanorup to 11 monthsup to $2,500
For details, see Tenn. Code § 40-35-111
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Terms Used In Tennessee Code 39-17-423

  • Controlled substance: means a drug, substance, or immediate precursor in Schedules I through VII of §. See Tennessee Code 39-17-402
  • Distribute: means to deliver other than by administering or dispensing a controlled substance. See Tennessee Code 39-17-402
  • Drug: means :
    (A) Substances recognized as drugs in the United States Pharmacopoeia, official Homeopaths Pharmacopoeia of the United States, or official National Formulary, or any supplement to any of them. See Tennessee Code 39-17-402
  • 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, and includes any packaging or repackaging of the substance or labeling or relabeling of its container, except that "manufacture" does not include the preparation or compounding of a controlled substance by an individual for the individual's own use or the preparation, compounding, packaging, or labeling of a controlled substance by:
    (A) A practitioner as an incident to administering or dispensing a controlled substance in the course of professional practice. See Tennessee Code 39-17-402
  • Person: means an individual, corporation, governmental subdivision or agency, business trust, estate, trust, partnership or association or any other legal entity. See Tennessee Code 39-17-402
  • Pharmacist: means a licensed pharmacist as defined by the laws of this state, and where the context so requires, the owner of a store or other place of business where controlled substances are compounded or dispensed by a licensed pharmacist. See Tennessee Code 39-17-402
  • United States: includes the District of Columbia and the several territories of the United States. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
  • Wholesaler: means a person who supplies a controlled substance that the person has not produced or prepared, on official written orders, but not on prescriptions. See Tennessee Code 39-17-402
(1) Sell;
(2) Deliver; or
(3) Distribute a substance that is represented to be a controlled substance and which is substantially similar in color, shape, size, and markings or lack thereof, to a Schedule I, II, III or IV controlled substance as classified in §§ 39-17-406 – 39-17-412, in order that the substance may be sold as a controlled substance.
(b) It is an offense for a person to manufacture for sale or exchange any substance with the intent that the substance substantially imitate in color, shape, size, and markings or lack of markings, the physical appearance of a Schedule I, II, III or IV controlled substance, as classified in §§ 39-17-406 – 39-17-412, in order that the substance may be sold as a controlled substance.
(c) A violation of subsection (a) or (b) is a Class E felony.
(d) It is an offense for a person to be the recipient of a sale or exchange of a substance set forth in this section. A violation of this subsection (d) is a Class A misdemeanor. In addition to the penalties set forth in this section, the court may impose a mandatory drug rehabilitation program.
(e) This section shall not apply to:

(1) Any person who manufactures or sells a substance for use as a placebo by a licensed physician, dentist, pharmacist or registered nurse acting under the direction of a physician, dentist, or pharmacist;
(2) A licensed physician, dentist, pharmacist or registered nurse who sells, dispenses, administers or otherwise distributes a placebo to a patient of the physician or dentist for purposes of the medical care or treatment of the patient;
(3) A noncontrolled substance that was introduced into commerce prior to the introduction into commerce of the controlled substance that it is alleged to imitate;
(4) A substance that may be legally purchased at a drug or grocery store without a prescription; provided, that the substance is not represented by the seller to be a controlled substance; and
(5) A substance that is packaged and labeled in accordance with appropriate rules and regulations of the United States food and drug administration shall create a rebuttable presumption that the manufacturer or wholesaler of the substance is exempted from this section.
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