# KRS § 218A.020: 218A.020 Cabinet for Health and Family Services to administer chapter -- Control of substances rescheduled under federal law -- Office of Drug Control Policy may request scheduling of substances meeting criteria > Kentucky · Statutes · In force URL: https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/statutes/STATE_KY_TXVIII_C218A_S218A.020 ## Section - **Citation:** KRS § 218A.020 - **Heading:** 218A.020 Cabinet for Health and Family Services to administer chapter -- Control of substances rescheduled under federal law -- Office of Drug Control Policy may request scheduling of substances meeting criteria - **Jurisdiction:** Kentucky - **Kind:** Statutes - **Status:** In force - **Text as of:** August 14, 2026 - **Source:** Compiled text - **Location:** KY Code / Title XVIII / Chapter 218A / Section 218A.020 ## Text 218A.020 Cabinet for Health and Family Services to administer chapter -- Control of substances rescheduled under federal law -- Office of Drug Control Policy may request scheduling of substances meeting criteria. (1) The Cabinet for Health and Family Services shall administer this chapter and may by administrative regulation add substances to or delete or reschedule all substances enumerated in the schedules authorized under this chapter. In making a determination regarding a substance, the Cabinet for Health and Family Services may consider the following: (a) The actual or relative potential for abuse; (b) The scientific evidence of its pharmacological effect, if known; (c) The state of current scientific knowledge regarding the substance; (d) The history and current pattern of abuse; (e) The scope, duration, and significance of abuse; (f) The risk to the public health; (g) The potential of the substance to produce psychic or physiological dependence liability; and (h) Whether the substance is an immediate precursor of a substance already controlled under this chapter. (2) After considering the factors enumerated in subsection (1) of this section, the Cabinet for Health and Family Services may adopt a regulation controlling the substance if it finds the substance has a potential for abuse. (3) (a) If any substance is designated or rescheduled as a controlled substance under the federal Controlled Substances Act, the drug shall be considered to be controlled at the state level in the same numerical schedule corresponding to the federal schedule. (b) Notwithstanding paragraph (a) of this subsection, the Cabinet for Health and Family Services may file an amendment to the administrative regulations promulgated pursuant to this section to control the substance in a more restrictive numerical schedule than the federal schedule as permitted by subsection (1) of this section. (4) The Cabinet for Health and Family Services shall exclude any nonnarcotic substance from a schedule if the substance may be lawfully sold over the counter without prescription under the provisions of the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act, or the Federal Comprehensive Drug Abuse Prevention and Control Act of 1970, or the Kentucky Revised Statutes (for the purposes of this section the Kentucky Revised Statutes shall not include any regulations issued thereunder). (5) The Office of Drug Control Policy may request that the Cabinet for Health and Family Services schedule any substance that would meet the criteria to be scheduled pursuant to this chapter. The cabinet shall consider the request utilizing the criteria established by this section and shall issue a written response within sixty (60) days of the scheduling request delineating the cabinet's decision to schedule or not schedule the substance and the basis for the cabinet's decision. The cabinet's response shall be provided to the Legislative Research Commission and shall be a public record. ## Nearby sections - [KRS § 218A.005 218A.005 Legislative findings and declarations](https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/statutes/STATE_KY_TXVIII_C218A_S218A.005.md) - [KRS § 218A.010 218A.010 Definitions for chapter](https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/statutes/STATE_KY_TXVIII_C218A_S218A.010.md) - [KRS § 218A.015 218A.015 Definitions of mental states](https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/statutes/STATE_KY_TXVIII_C218A_S218A.015.md) - [KRS § 218A.020 218A.020 Cabinet for Health and Family Services to administer chapter -- Control of substances rescheduled under federal law -- Office of Drug Control Policy may request scheduling of substances meeting criteria](https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/statutes/STATE_KY_TXVIII_C218A_S218A.020.md) - [KRS § 218A.025 218A.025 Controlled Substances Prescribing Council -- Membership -- Duties - Report](https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/statutes/STATE_KY_TXVIII_C218A_S218A.025.md) - [KRS § 218A.040 218A.040 Criteria for classification under Schedule I](https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/statutes/STATE_KY_TXVIII_C218A_S218A.040.md) - [KRS § 218A.060 218A.060 Criteria for classification under Schedule II](https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/statutes/STATE_KY_TXVIII_C218A_S218A.060.md) - [KRS § 218A.080 218A.080 Criteria for classification under Schedule III](https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/statutes/STATE_KY_TXVIII_C218A_S218A.080.md) - [KRS § 218A.100 218A.100 Criteria for classification under Schedule IV](https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/statutes/STATE_KY_TXVIII_C218A_S218A.100.md) - [KRS § 218A.120 218A.120 Criteria for classification under Schedule V](https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/statutes/STATE_KY_TXVIII_C218A_S218A.120.md) - [KRS § 218A.133 218A.133 Exemption from prosecution for possession of controlled substance or drug paraphernalia if seeking assistance with drug overdose](https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/statutes/STATE_KY_TXVIII_C218A_S218A.133.md) - [KRS § 218A.135 218A.135 Pretrial release of defendant charged with offense for which conviction may result in presumptive probation](https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/statutes/STATE_KY_TXVIII_C218A_S218A.135.md) - [KRS § 218A.136 218A.136 Utilization of faith-based residential treatment program -- Conditions](https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/statutes/STATE_KY_TXVIII_C218A_S218A.136.md) - [KRS § 218A.140 218A.140 Prohibited acts relating to controlled substances -- Penalties](https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/statutes/STATE_KY_TXVIII_C218A_S218A.140.md) --- Source: Frix Law Library, https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/statutes/STATE_KY_TXVIII_C218A_S218A.020. Check the current official text before relying on it. Not legal advice.