What Is A Controlled Substance? What Is Meant By The Different Schedules That Are Distinct Under Florida Law?

Florida law has five distinct drug schedules. Each one of the schedules outlines what the legislature’s belief is regarding that classification as well as what the penalties are if someone illegally uses it. A schedule one substance is something that the politicians say has a high potential for abuse and has no current accepted medical use in the United States. As mentioned earlier, its use under medical supervision does not meet accepted safety standards. Another way to put that is, it is too dangerous to use. That is a schedule one drug.

In Florida, there are literally hundreds of different drugs listed and they can be anything from common and well known hallucinogens such as peyote or psilocybin to things that people are not familiar with. These drugs were legal in the form of supplements until recently. Now the craze over hunting down every possible designer drug has caused legislatures across the country to prohibit those as well. Basically, that is the schedule one.

A schedule two drug is something that has high potential for abuse but it does have an accepted medical use. It is very restricted. Its use can lead to abuse, psychological or physical dependence, but that is the essence of the schedule two drugs. It is something that does have accepted general use within the medical community but that it is very restricted. Amazingly, a lot of things are in schedule one which should be in two or lower and vice versa.

A schedule three is something that has potential for abuse, but it is not as severe as schedules one or two. The drugs involved currently do have acceptable medical use in United States. The risk is considered by the politicians in the legislature to be low to moderate when it comes to physical dependence. It may have high psychological dependence or, in the case of steroids, lead to damage. They have a list of all those schedules within the third schedule in the Florida statutes. Interestingly, lysergic acid is a schedule three drug and as it is known, that is related to LSD. You think it would be schedule one or schedule two, but it is actually not.

Finally, there are schedule four drugs. They have a low potential for abuse relative to substances in schedule three. It is not compared to one or two it is only compared to three. What may be interesting is when you look at what is in a schedule four; there has been all this concern about benzodiazepines. The very first thing listed in a schedule four is generic Xanax, otherwise known as alprazolam. According to the politicians in Tallahassee, alprazolam and barbital and other types of drugs listed in a schedule four have a low potential for abuse relative to the substances in a schedule three, but marijuana is so dangerous, it cannot even be used safely.

I’ve practice criminal defense law for a long time. Lots of marijuana smoking clients over the course of a twenty-five plus year career as a criminal defense attorney. Not one of them exploded or dropped dead from smoking cannabis. Florida drug laws need to be aggressively challenged when fact patterns prove unconstitutional government acts. These schedules are proof up front that the government is seriously out of touch with the reality on the ground.

Read on to find out How a Controlled Substance Is Defined in Florida or call Attorney Stephen G. Cobb of the Cobb Criminal Defense Law Firm in Florida for a FREE Initial Consultation at and get the information and legal answers you’re seeking.

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