Alabama Designates Gabapentin as a Schedule V Drug

Effective November 18, 2019, Gabapentin is a Schedule V Controlled Substance in Alabama. Though Gabapentin is not a controlled substance at the federal level, Alabama joins a growing list of states that have reclassified the drug as a controlled substance in the past year. The reclassification will require licensees carrying the drug to conduct an inventory of all Gabapentin products by the close of business on November 17, 2019. Licensees will also be required to comply with all applicable state controlled substance storage, reporting, and security requirements.

If an entity previously obtained an Alabama Controlled Substance Waiver because it did not distribute federal or state controlled substances and will distribute Gabapentin as of the effective date, the waiver will no longer be valid and the entity will need a state controlled substance license. Such entities are required to complete their 2020 license renewal along with the controlled substance license application prior to the November 18, 2019 effective date. If submitted by the deadline, the controlled substance license will become effective on November 18, 2019 and will not expire until December 31, 2020.

For more information about how Alabama's reclassification of Gabapentin may affect your business, please contact your Quarles & Brady attorney or:

• Susan Brichler Trujillo: 602-229-5318 / susan.trujillo@quarles.com
• Nicholas H. Meza: 602-229-5439 / nicholas.meza@quarles.com
• Luis J. Lanz: 602-229-5331 / luis.lanz@quarles.com