(a)        Every person who manufactures, distributes, dispenses, or conducts research with any controlled substance within this State or who proposes to engage in any of these activities shall annually register with the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services, in accordance with rules adopted by the Commission, and shall pay the registration fee set by the Commission for the category to which the applicant belongs. An applicant for registration shall file an application for registration with the Department of Health and Human Services and submit the required fee with the application. The categories of applicants and the maximum fee for each category are as follows:

CATEGORY                                                     MAXIMUM FEE

Clinic                                                                                $150.00

Animal Shelter                                                                   150.00

Hospital                                                                              350.00

Nursing Home                                                                    150.00

Teaching Institution                                                           150.00

Researcher                                                                          150.00

Analytical Laboratory                                                        150.00

Dog Handler                                                                       150.00

Distributor                                                                          600.00

Manufacturer                                                                      700.00

(a1)      Repealed by Session Laws 2019-159, s. 1.1, effective July 22, 2019.

(a2)      An animal shelter may register under this section for the limited purpose of obtaining, possessing, and using sodium pentobarbital and other drugs approved by the Department in consultation with the North Carolina Veterinary Medical Association for the euthanasia of animals lawfully held by the animal shelter. An animal shelter registered under this section shall also register with the federal Drug Enforcement Agency under the federal Controlled Substances Act. An animal shelter’s acquisition of sodium pentobarbital and other approved drugs for use in the euthanizing of animals shall be made only by the shelter’s manager or chief operating officer or by a licensed veterinarian.

A person certified by the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services to administer euthanasia by injection is authorized to possess and administer sodium pentobarbital and other approved euthanasia drugs for the purposes of euthanizing domestic dogs (Canis familiaris) and cats (Felis domestica) lawfully held by an animal shelter. Possession and administration of sodium pentobarbital and other approved drugs for use in the euthanizing of dogs and cats by a certified euthanasia technician shall be limited to the premises of the animal shelter.

For purposes of this section, “animal shelter” means an animal shelter registered under Article 3 of Chapter 19A of the N.C. Gen. Stat. and owned, operated, or maintained by a unit of local government or under contract with a unit of local government for the purpose of housing or containing seized, stray, homeless, quarantined, abandoned, or unwanted animals.

(b)        Persons registered by the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services under this Article (including research facilities) to manufacture, distribute, dispense or conduct research with controlled substances may possess, manufacture, distribute, dispense or conduct research with those substances to the extent authorized by their registration and in conformity with the other provisions of this Article.

(c)        The following persons shall not be required to register and may lawfully possess controlled substances under the provisions of this Article:

(1)        An agent, or an employee thereof, of any registered manufacturer, distributor, or dispenser of any controlled substance if such agent is acting in the usual course of his business or employment;

(2)        The State courier service operated by the Department of Administration, a common or contract carrier, or a public warehouseman, or an employee thereof, whose possession of any controlled substance is in the usual course of his business or employment;

(3)        An ultimate user or a person in possession of any controlled substance pursuant to a lawful order of a practitioner;

(4)        Repealed by Session Laws 1977, c. 891, s. 4.

(5)        Any law-enforcement officer acting within the course and scope of official duties, or any person employed in an official capacity by, or acting as an agent of, any law-enforcement agency or other agency charged with enforcing the provisions of this Article when acting within the course and scope of official duties; and

(6)        A practitioner, as defined in N.C. Gen. Stat. § 90-87(22)a., who is required to be licensed in North Carolina by his respective licensing board.

(d)       The Commission may, by rule, waive the requirement for registration of certain classes of manufacturers, distributors, or dispensers if it finds it consistent with the public health and safety.

(e)        A separate registration shall be required at each principal place of business, research or professional practice where the registrant manufactures, distributes, dispenses or uses controlled substances.

(f)        The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services is authorized to inspect the establishment of a registrant, applicant for registration, or practitioner in accordance with rules adopted by the Commission.

(g)        Practitioners licensed in North Carolina by their respective licensing boards may possess, dispense or administer controlled substances to the extent authorized by law and by their boards.

(h)        A physician licensed by the North Carolina Medical Board pursuant to Article 1 of this Chapter may possess, dispense or administer tetrahydrocannabinols in duly constituted pharmaceutical form for human administration for treatment purposes pursuant to rules adopted by the Commission.

(i)         A physician licensed by the North Carolina Medical Board pursuant to Article 1 of this Chapter may dispense or administer Dronabinol or Nabilone as scheduled in N.C. Gen. Stat. § 90-90(5) only as an antiemetic agent in cancer chemotherapy. ?(1971, c. 919, s. 1; 1973, c. 1358, s. 12; 1977, c. 667, s. 3; c. 891, s. 4; 1979, c. 781; 1981, c. 51, s. 9; 1983, c. 375, s. 2; 1985, c. 439, s. 2; 1987, c. 412, s. 13; 1989 (Reg. Sess., 1990), c. 1040, s. 4; 1993, c. 384, s. 2; 1995, c. 94, ss. 26, 27; 1997-443, s. 11A.118(a); 1997-456, s. 27; 2003-335, s. 1; 2003-398, s. 1; 2010-127, s. 1; 2019-159, s. 1.1.)