Controlled Substance Analog Offense

The manufacture, distribution or possession of a chemical substance that is not itself listed on a controlled-substances schedule but is substantially similar in chemical structure to a scheduled substance, has a substantially similar or greater effect on the central nervous system, and is intended for human consumption, treated by statute as if it were a scheduled substance despite not being individually named. The United States Federal Analogue Act, codified at 21 U.S.C. 813, was enacted to close the gap that allowed a chemist to alter a scheduled drug's molecular structure just enough to evade its specific listing while producing a substance with a nearly identical effect, and the approach is used to prosecute cases involving synthetic cannabinoids, so-called bath salts and other designer drugs that emerge faster than formal drug scheduling can keep pace with.