South Carolina Code of Laws
Chapter 53 - Poisons, Drugs And Other Controlled Substances
Section 44-53-110. Definitions.

As used in this article and Sections 44-49-10, 44-49-40, and 44-49-50:
(1) "Administer" means the direct application of a controlled substance, whether by injection, inhalation, ingestion, or any other means, to the body of a patient or research subject by:
(a) a practitioner (or, in his presence, by his authorized agent); or
(b) the patient or research subject at the direction and in the presence of the practitioner.
(2) "Agent" means an authorized person who acts on behalf of or at the direction of a manufacturer, distributor, or dispenser, except that this term does not include a common or contract carrier, public warehouseman, or employee of the carrier or warehouseman, when acting in the usual or lawful course of the carrier's or warehouseman's business.
(3) "Bureau" means the Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs, United States Department of Justice, or its successor agency.
(4) "Commission" means the South Carolina Department of Alcohol and Other Drug Abuse Services.
(5) "Confidant" means a medical practitioner, a pharmacist, a pharmacologist, a psychologist, a psychiatrist, a full-time staff member of a college or university counseling bureau, a guidance counselor or a teacher in an elementary school or in a junior or senior high school, a full-time staff member of a hospital, a duly ordained and licensed member of the clergy, accredited Christian Science practitioner, or any professional or paraprofessional staff member of a drug treatment, education, rehabilitation, or referral center who has received a communication from a holder of the privilege.
(6) "Controlled substance" means a drug, substance, or immediate precursor in Schedules I through V in Sections 44-53-190, 44-53-210, 44-53-230, 44-53-250, and 44-53-270.
(7) "Controlled substance analogue" means a substance that is intended for human consumption and that either has a chemical structure substantially similar to that of a controlled substance in Schedules I, II, or III or has a stimulant, depressant, analgesic, or hallucinogenic effect on the central nervous system that is substantially similar to that of a controlled substance in Schedules I, II, or III. Controlled substance analogue does not include a controlled substance; any substance generally recognized as safe and effective within the meaning of the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act, 21 U.S.C. 301 et seq.; any substance for which there is an approved new drug application; or, with respect to a particular person, any substance if an exemption is in effect for investigational use for that person under Section 505 of the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act, 21 U.S.C. 355.
(8) "Counterfeit substance" means a controlled substance which, or the container or labeling of which, without authorization, bears the trademark, trade name, or other identifying mark, imprint, number, or device, or any likeness thereof, of a manufacturer, distributor, or dispenser other than the person who, in fact, manufactured, distributed, or dispensed such substance and which, thereby, falsely purports or is represented to be the product of, or to have been distributed by, such other manufacturer, distributor, or dispenser.
(9) "Cocaine base" means an alkaloidal cocaine or freebase form of cocaine, which is the end product of a chemical alteration whereby the cocaine in salt form is converted to a form suitable for smoking. Cocaine base is commonly referred to as "rock" or "crack cocaine".
(10) "Deliver" or "delivery" means the actual, constructive, or attempted transfer of a controlled drug or paraphernalia whether or not there exists an agency relationship.
(11) "Department" means the State Department of Health and Environmental Control.
(12) "Depressant or stimulant drug" means:
(a) a drug which contains any quantity of barbituric acid or any of the salts of barbituric acid, or any derivative of barbituric acid which has been designated as habit forming by the appropriate federal agency or by the department;
(b) a drug which contains any quantity of amphetamine or any of its optical isomers, any salt of amphetamine or any salt of any optical isomer of amphetamine, or any other substance which the appropriate federal agency or the department, after investigation, has found to be capable of being, and by regulation designated as, habit forming because of its stimulant effect on the central nervous system; or
(c) lysergic acid diethylamide or mescaline, or any other substance which the appropriate federal agency or the department, after investigation, has found to have, and by regulation designates as having a potential for abuse because of its stimulant or depressant effect on the central nervous system or its hallucinogenic effect.
(13) "Detoxification treatment" means the dispensing, for a period not in excess of twenty-one days, of a narcotic drug in decreasing doses to an individual in order to alleviate adverse physiological or psychological effects incident to withdrawal from the continuous or sustained use of a narcotic drug and as a method of bringing the individual to a narcotic drug-free state within this period.
(14) "Director" means the Director of the Department of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs under the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division.
(15) "Dispense" means to deliver a controlled substance to an ultimate user or research subject by or pursuant to the lawful order of a practitioner, including the prescribing, administering, packaging, labeling, or compounding necessary to prepare the substance for the delivery.
(16) "Dispenser" means a practitioner who delivers a controlled substance to the ultimate user or research subject.
(17) "Distribute" means to deliver (other than by administering or dispensing) a controlled substance.
(18) "Distributor" means a person who so delivers a controlled substance.
(19) "Drug" means a substance:
(a) recognized in the official United States Pharmacopoeia, official Homeopathic Pharmacopoeia of the United States, or official National Formulary, or any supplement to any of them;
(b) intended for use in the diagnosis, cure, mitigation, treatment, or prevention of disease in man and animals;
(c) other than food intended to affect the structure or any function of the body of man and animals; and
(d) intended for use as a component of any substance specified in subitem (a), (b), or (c) of this paragraph but does not include devices or their components, parts, or accessories.
(20) "Drug problem" means a mental or physical problem caused by the use or abuse of a controlled substance.
(21) "Holder of the privilege" means a person with an existing or a potential drug problem who seeks counseling, treatment, or therapy regarding such drug problem.
(22) "Imitation controlled substance" means a noncontrolled substance which is represented to be a controlled substance and is packaged in a manner normally used for the distribution or delivery of an illegal controlled substance.
(23) "Immediate precursor" means a substance which the appropriate federal agency or the department has found to be and by regulation has designated as being, or can be proven by expert testimony as being, the principal compound commonly used or produced primarily for use, and which is an immediate chemical intermediary used or likely to be used in the manufacture of a controlled substance, or is a reagent, solvent, or catalyst used in the manufacture of controlled substances, the control of which is necessary to prevent, curtail, or limit such manufacture.
(24) "Maintenance treatment" means the dispensing, for a period in excess of twenty-one days, of a narcotic drug in the treatment of an individual for dependence upon heroin or other morphine-like drugs.
(25) "Manufacture" means the production, preparation, propagation, compounding, conversion, or processing of a controlled substance, either directly or indirectly by extraction from substances of natural origin, or independently by means of chemical synthesis, or by a combination of extraction and chemical synthesis, and includes any packaging or repackaging of the substance or labeling or relabeling of its container, except that this term does not include the preparation or compounding of a controlled substance by an individual for his own use or the preparation, compounding, packaging, or labeling of a controlled substance:
(a) by a practitioner as an incident to his administering or dispensing of a controlled substance in the course of his professional practice; or
(b) by a practitioner, or by his authorized agent under his supervision, for the purpose of, or as an incident to, research, teaching, or chemical analysis and not for sale.
(26) "Manufacturer" means any person who packages, repackages, or labels any container of any controlled substance, except practitioners who dispense or compound prescription orders for delivery to the ultimate consumer.
(27)(a) "Marijuana" means:
(i) all species or variety of the marijuana plant and all parts thereof whether growing or not;
(ii) the seeds of the marijuana plant;
(iii) the resin extracted from any part of the marijuana plant; or
(iv) every compound, manufacture, salt, derivative, mixture, or preparation of the marijuana plant, marijuana seeds, or marijuana resin.
(b) "Marijuana" does not mean:
(i) the mature stalks of the marijuana plant or fibers produced from these stalks;
(ii) oil or cake made from the seeds of the marijuana plant, including cannabidiol derived from the seeds of the marijuana plant;
(iii) any other compound, manufacture, salt, derivatives, mixture, or preparation of the mature stalks (except the resin extracted therefrom), including cannabidiol derived from mature stalks;
(iv) the sterilized seed of the marijuana plant which is incapable of germination;
(v) for persons participating in a clinical trial or in an expanded access program related to administering cannabidiol for the treatment of severe forms of epilepsy pursuant to Article 18, Chapter 53, Title 44, a drug or substance approved for the use of those participants by the federal Food and Drug Administration; or
(vi) for persons, or the persons' parents, legal guardians, or other caretakers, who have received a written certification from a physician licensed in this State that the person has been diagnosed by a physician as having Lennox-Gastaut Syndrome, Dravet Syndrome, also known as "severe myoclonic epilepsy of infancy", or any other severe form of epilepsy that is not adequately treated by traditional medical therapies, the substance cannabidiol, a nonpsychoactive cannabinoid, or any compound, manufacture, salt, derivative, mixture, or preparation of any plant of the genus cannabis that contains nine-tenths of one percent or less of tetrahydrocannabinol and more than fifteen percent of cannabidiol.
(c) For purposes of this item, written certification means a document dated and signed by a physician stating that the patient has been diagnosed with Lennox-Gastaut Syndrome, Dravet Syndrome, also known as "severe myoclonic epilepsy of infancy", or any other severe form of epilepsy that is not adequately treated by traditional medical therapies and the physician's conclusion that the patient might benefit from the medical use of cannabidiol.
(d) A physician is not subject to detrimental action, including arrest, prosecution, penalty, denial of a right or privilege, civil penalty, or disciplinary action by a professional licensing board for providing written certification for the medical use of cannabidiol to a patient in accordance with this section.
(28) "Methamphetamine" includes any salt, isomer, or salt of an isomer, or any mixture or compound containing amphetamine or methamphetamine. Methamphetamine is commonly referred to as "crank", "ice", or "crystal meth".
(29) "Narcotic drug" means any of the following, whether produced directly or indirectly by extraction from substances of vegetable origin, or independently by means of chemical synthesis, or by a combination of extraction and chemical synthesis:
(a) opium, coca leaves, and opiates;
(b) a compound, manufacture, salt, derivative or preparation of opium, coca leaves, or opiates;
(c) a substance (and any compound, manufacture, salt, derivative, or preparation thereof) which is chemically identical with any of the substances referred to in subitem (a) or (b). This term does not include decocainized coca leaves or extracts of coca leaves, which extracts do not contain cocaine or ecgonine.
(30) "Noncontrolled substance" means any substance of chemical or natural origin which is not included in the schedules of controlled substances set forth in this article or included in the federal schedules of controlled substances set forth in Title 21, Section 812 of the United States Code or in Title 21, Part 1308 of the Code of Federal Regulations.
(31) "Opiate" means any substance having an addiction-forming or addiction-sustaining liability similar to morphine or being capable of conversion into a drug having addiction-forming or addiction-sustaining liability. It does not include, unless specifically designated as controlled under this article, the dextrorotatory isomer of 3-methoxy-n-methylmorphinan and its salts (dextromethorphan). It does include racemic and levorotatory forms.
(32) "Opium poppy" means the plant of the species Papaver somniferum L., except the seed thereof.
(33) "Paraphernalia" means any instrument, device, article, or contrivance used, designed for use, or intended for use in ingesting, smoking, administering, manufacturing, or preparing a controlled substance and does not include cigarette papers and tobacco pipes but includes, but is not limited to:
(a) metal, wooden, acrylic, glass, stone, plastic, or ceramic marijuana or hashish pipes with or without screens, permanent screens, hashish heads, or punctured metal bowls;
(b) water pipes designed for use or intended for use with marijuana, hashish, hashish oil, or cocaine;
(c) carburetion tubes and devices;
(d) smoking and carburetion masks;
(e) roach clips;
(f) separation gins designed for use or intended for use in cleaning marijuana;
(g) cocaine spoons and vials;
(h) chamber pipes;
(i) carburetor pipes;
(j) electric pipes;
(k) air-driven pipes;
(l) chilams;
(m) bongs;
(n) ice pipes or chillers.
(34) "Peyote" means all parts of the plant presently classified botanically as Lophophora Williamsii Lemaire, whether growing or not; the seeds thereof; any extract from any part of such plant; and every compound, manufacture, salt, derivative, mixture, or preparation of such plant, its seeds, or extracts.
(35) "Poppy straw" means all parts, except the seeds, of the opium poppy, after mowing.
(36) "Practitioner" means:
(a) a physician, dentist, veterinarian, podiatrist, scientific investigator, or other person licensed, registered, or otherwise permitted to distribute, dispense, conduct research with respect to, or to administer a controlled substance in the course of professional practice or research in this State;
(b) a pharmacy, hospital, or other institution licensed, registered, or otherwise permitted to distribute, dispense, conduct research with respect to, or to administer a controlled substance in the course of professional practice or research in this State.
(37) "Production" includes the manufacture, planting, cultivation, growing, or harvesting of a controlled substance.
(38) "Ultimate user" means a person who lawfully possesses a controlled substance for his own use or for the use of a member of his household or for administration to an animal owned by him or a member of his household.
HISTORY: 1962 Code Section 32-1510.27; 1971 (57) 800; 1972 (57) 2621; 1973 (58) 289; 1974 (58) 2284, 2855; 1975 (59) 104; 1976 Act No. 672, Section 1; 1980 Act No. 361, Section 1; 1982 Act No. 400, Section 1; 1982 Act No. 427, Section 1; 1987 Act No. 128 Section 2; 1990 Act No. 604, Section 5; 2000 Act No. 355, Section 2; 2005 Act No. 127, Section 2, eff June 7, 2005; 2014 Act No. 221 (S.1035), Section 1, eff June 2, 2014.

Structure South Carolina Code of Laws