New Jersey Drug Schedules 

Camden County NJ Drug Charges Lawyer

The attorneys at the Law Offices of Leonard Biddison have had tremendous success handling a huge volume of drug cases for years in Camden and Burlington County including Cherry Hill, Camden, Gloucester, and Winslow Township. Also, one of the members of our criminal defense team is a former county prosecutor in New Jersey who used to prosecute drug charges for the State which means we know what kinds of arguments the prosecution might make. This sort of knowledge and expertise can be extremely valuable in your case. If you have been charged with a drug related crime, having an attorney who knows what it takes to potentially beat the charges against you is imperative. Call the Law Offices of Leonard Biddison at 877-450-8301 anytime for a free initial consultation.

In New Jersey, possessing, distributing, or being under the influence of a controlled dangerous substance are all criminal offenses and expose a person to significant penalties. Although some say these are victim-less crimes, the state prosecutes these cases very aggressively in part because of their potential for abuse and how easily attainable a CDS is today on the streets. New Jersey law has classified these drugs based on their potential for addiction and abuse and their acceptance for medical treatment in the scientific community.

New Jersey Drug Tier Classifications

The schedules contained in sections 5 through 8 of this act include the controlled dangerous substances listed or to be listed by whatever official name, common or usual name, chemical name, or trade name designated.

A substance does not need to be listed as a controlled substance to be treated as a Schedule I substance for prosecution. A controlled substance analogue is a substance which is intended for human consumption and is structurally or pharmacologically substantially similar to or is represented as being similar to a Schedule I or Schedule II substance and is not an approved medication in the United States. (See 21 U.S.C. §802(32)(A) for the definition of a controlled substance analogue and 21 U.S.C. §813 for the schedule.).

Schedule I: N.J.S.A. 24:21-5

a. The director shall place a substance in Schedule I if he finds that the substance: (1) has high potential for abuse; and (2) has no accepted medical use in treatment in the United States; or lacks accepted safety for use in treatment under medical supervision.

b. The controlled dangerous substances listed in this section are included in Schedule I, subject to any revision and republishing by the director pursuant to subsection d. of section 3 of P.L.1970, c.226 (C.24:21-3), and except to the extent provided in any other schedule.

c. Any of the following opiates, including their isomers, esters, and ethers, unless specifically excepted, whenever the existence of such isomers, esters, ethers and salts is possible within the specific chemical designation: Below are some examples.

• heroin
• lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD),
• marijuana (cannabis),
• 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (ecstasy),
• methaqualone (Quaalude),
• peyote (divine cactus)

Schedule II: N.J.S.A. 24:21-6

a. The director shall place a substance in Schedule II if he finds that the substance: (1) has high potential for abuse; (2) has currently accepted medical use in treatment in the United States, or currently accepted medical use with severe restrictions; and (3) abuse may lead to severe psychic or physical dependence.

b. The controlled dangerous substances listed in this section are included in Schedule II, subject to any revision and republishing by the director pursuant to subsection d. of section 3 of P.L.1970, c.226 (C.24:21-3), and except to the extent provided in any other schedule.

c. Any of the following substances except those narcotic drugs listed in other schedules whether produced directly or indirectly by extraction from substances of vegetable origin, or independently by means of chemical synthesis, or by combination of extraction and chemical synthesis

(1) Opium and opiate, and any salt, compound, derivative, or preparation of opium or opiate.

(2) Any salt, compound, derivative, or preparation thereof which is chemically equivalent or identical with any of the substances referred to in clause 1, except that these substances shall not include the isoquinaline alkaloids of opium.

(3) Opium poppy and poppy straw.

(4) Coca leaves and any salt, compound, derivative, or preparation of coca leaves, and any salt, compound, derivative, or preparation thereof which is chemically equivalent or identical with any of these substances, except that the substances shall not include decocainized coca leaves or extractions which do not contain cocaine or ecogine.

d. Any of the following opiates, including their isomers, esters, ethers, salts, and salts of isomers, esters and ethers, unless specifically excepted, whenever the existence of such isomers, esters, ethers, and salts is possible within the specific chemical designation. The following are examples:

• Cocaine
• Methamphetamine
• Methadone
• Hydromorphone (Dilaudid)
• Meperidine (Demerol)
• Oxycodone (OxyContin)
• Fentanyl
• Dexedrine
• Adderall
• Ritalin

Schedule III: N.J.S.A. 24:21-7

a. The director shall place a substance in Schedule III if he finds that the substance: (1) has a potential for abuse less than the substances listed in Schedules I and II; (2) has currently accepted medical use in treatment in the United States; and (3) abuse may lead to moderate or low physical dependence or high psychological dependence.

b. The controlled dangerous substances listed in this section are included in Schedule III, subject to any revision and republishing by the director pursuant to subsection d. of section 3 of P.L.1970, c.226 (C.24:21-3), and except to the extent provided in any other schedule.

c. Any material, compound, mixture, or preparation which contains any quantity of the following substances associated with a stimulant effect on the central nervous system. The following are examples:

• Combination products with less than 15 milligrams of hydrocodone per dosage unit (Vicodin)
• Products containing less than 90 milligrams of codeine per dosage unit (Tylenol with codeine)
• Ketamine
• Anabolic steroids
• Testosterone (HGH)

Schedule IV: N.J.S.A. 24:21-8

a. The director shall place a substance in Schedule IV if he finds that the substance: (1) has low potential for abuse relative to the substances listed in Schedule III; (2) has currently accepted medical use in treatment in the United States; and (3) may lead to limited physical dependence or psychological dependence relative to the substances listed in Schedule III.

b. The controlled dangerous substances listed in this section are included in Schedule IV.

c. Any material, compound, mixture or preparation which contains any quantity of the following substances having a potential for abuse associated with a depressant effect on the central nervous system. The following are examples:

• Xanax (Bars)
• Soma
• Darvon
• Darvocet
• Valium
• Ativan
• Talwin
• Ambien

Schedule V: N.J.S.A. 24:21-8.1

a. The director shall place a substance in Schedule V if he finds that the substance: (1) has low potential for abuse relative to the substances listed in Schedule IV; (2) has currently accepted medical use in treatment in the United States; and (3) has limited physical dependence or psychological dependence liability relative to the substances listed in Schedule IV.

b. The controlled dangerous substances listed in this section are included in Schedule V.

c. Any compound, mixture, or preparation containing limited quantities of any of the following narcotic drugs, 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. The following are examples:

• Cough preparations with less than 200 milligrams of codeine or per 100 milliliters (Robitussin AC),
• Lomotil
• Motofen
• Lyrica
• Parepectolin

Contact a Camden County NJ Drug Crimes Lawyer for a Free Consultation 

The criminal defense attorneys at the Law Offices of Leonard Biddison are always available to speak with you about your case and begin to formulate an aggressive strategy to defend you against a drug charge. Our criminal defense team understands the details of the law in New Jersey and we will use this knowledge to help you best defend against these charges. Call us today at 877-450-8301 for a free initial consultation about your case.