Senate Bill 3056

AN ACT TO AMEND SECTION 41-29-111, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO PROVIDE THAT ANY DRUG THAT IS SCHEDULED ON THE FEDERAL SCHEDULE FOR THE PURPOSE OF PREVENTING OR TREATING COVID-19 IS AUTOMATICALLY SCHEDULED ON THE CORRESPONDING STATE SCHEDULE; TO AMEND SECTION 41-29-121, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO REMOVE APPROVED CANNABIDIOL DRUGS FROM SCHEDULE V; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI:

SECTION 1. Section 41-29-111, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

41-29-111. (1) The Commissioner of Public Safety shall administer this article and shall work in conjunction and cooperation with the State Board of Pharmacy, county and municipal law enforcement agencies, the district and county attorneys, the Office of the Attorney General and the Mississippi Bureau of Narcotics. The State Board of Health shall work with the bureau in an advisory capacity and shall be responsible for recommending to the Legislature the appropriate schedule for all substances to be scheduled or rescheduled in Sections 41-29-113 through 41-29-121. In making a recommendation regarding a substance, the State Board of Health shall consider the following:

(a) (i) The actual or relative potential for abuse;

(ii) The scientific evidence of its pharmacological effect, if known;

(iii) The state of current scientific knowledge regarding the substance;

(iv) The history and current pattern of abuse;

(v) The scope, duration and significance of abuse;

(vi) The risk to the public health;

(vii) The potential of the substance to produce psychic or physiological dependence liability; and

(viii) Whether the substance is an immediate precursor of a substance already controlled under this article.

(b) After considering the factors enumerated in paragraph (a), the State Board of Health shall make findings with respect thereto and issue a recommendation to control the substance if it finds the substance has a potential for abuse.

(c) If the State Board of Health designates a substance as an immediate precursor, substances that are precursors of the controlled precursor shall not be recommended for control solely because they are precursors of the controlled precursor.

(d) If any substance is designated, rescheduled, or deleted as a controlled substance under federal law and notice thereof is given to the State Board of Health, it shall recommend the control of the substance under this article at the next session of the Legislature.

(e) (i) Authority to control under this article does not extend to distilled spirits, wine, malt beverages, or tobacco as those terms are defined or used in the Local Option Alcoholic Beverage Control Law, being Sections 67-1-1 through 67-1-91, and the Tobacco Tax Law of 1934, being Sections 27-69-1 through 27-69-77. It is the intent of the Legislature of the State of Mississippi that the bureau shall concentrate its efforts and resources on the enforcement of the Uniform Controlled Substances Law with respect to illicit narcotic and drug traffic in the state.

(ii) The controlled substances listed in the schedules in Sections 41-29-113 through 41-29-121 are included by whatever official, common, usual, chemical or trade name designated.

(f) The State Board of Health shall recommend the exclusion of any nonnarcotic substance from a schedule if such substance may, under the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act and the laws of this state, be lawfully sold over the counter without a prescription.

(2) Any drug that is scheduled on the federal schedule for the purpose of preventing or treating COVID-19 is automatically scheduled on the corresponding state schedule in Sections 41-29-113 through 41-29-121. This automatic scheduling is effective from the date that the COVID-19-related drug is designated on the federal schedule until the effective date of legislation amending the corresponding state schedule in the next regular session of the Legislature.

SECTION 2. Section 41-29-121, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

41-29-121.

SCHEDULE V

(a) Schedule V consists of the drugs and other substances, by whatever official name, common or usual name, chemical name, or brand name designated, listed in this section.

(b) Narcotic drugs. [Reserved]

(c) Narcotic drugs containing nonnarcotic active medicinal ingredients. Any compound, mixture or preparation containing any of the following narcotic drugs, or their salts calculated as the free anhydrous base or alkaloid, in limited quantities as set forth below, which also contains one or more nonnarcotic active medicinal ingredients in sufficient proportion to confer upon the compound, mixture or preparation valuable medicinal qualities other than those possessed by the narcotic drug alone:

(1) Not more than two hundred (200) milligrams of codeine, or any of its salts, per one hundred (100) milliliters or per one hundred (100) grams;

(2) Not more than one hundred (100) milligrams of dihydrocodeine, or any of its salts, per one hundred (100) milliliters or per one hundred (100) grams;

(3) Not more than one hundred (100) milligrams of ethylmorphine, or any of its salts, per one hundred (100) milliliters or per one hundred (100) grams;

(4) Not more than two and five-tenths (2.5) milligrams of diphenoxylate and not less than twenty-five (25) micrograms of atropine sulphate per dosage unit;

(5) Not more than one hundred (100) milligrams of opium per one hundred (100) milliliters or per one hundred (100) grams;

(6) Not more than five-tenths (0.5) milligram of difenoxin and not less than twenty-five (25) micrograms of atropine sulfate per dosage unit.

(d) Stimulants. Unless specifically excepted or listed in another schedule, any material, compound, mixture or preparation which contains any quantity of the following substance, including its salts, isomers and salts of isomers: Pyrovalerone.

(e) Depressants. Unless specifically exempted or excluded or unless listed in another schedule, any material, compound, mixture or preparation which contains any quantity of the following substances having a depressant effect on the central nervous system, including their salts, isomers and salts of isomers:

(1) Brivaracetam ((2S)-2-[(4R)-2-oxo-4-propylpyrrolidin-1-yl] butanamide) (also referred to as BRV; UCB-34714; Briviact);

(2) Ezogabine [N-[2-amino-4-(4-

fluorobenzylamino)-phenyl]-carbamic acid ethyl ester];

(3) Lacosamide [(R)-2-acetoamido-N-benzyl-3-methoxy-propionamide];

(4) Pregabalin [(S)-3-(aminomethyl)-5-methylhexanoic acid].

* * *

( * * *gf) Any material, compound, mixture or preparation which contains any quantity of a Schedule V controlled substance and is listed as an exempt substance in 21 CFR, Section 1308.22, 1308.24, 1308.26, 1308.32 or 1308.34, shall be exempted from the provisions of the Uniform Controlled Substances Law.

SECTION 3. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after July 1, 2020.