(a)        It shall be unlawful for any person:

(1)        Other than practitioners licensed under Articles 1, 2, 4, 6, 11, 12A of this Chapter to represent to any registrant or practitioner who manufactures, distributes, or dispenses a controlled substance under the provision of this Article that he or she is a licensed practitioner in order to secure or attempt to secure any controlled substance as defined in this Article or to in any way impersonate a practitioner for the purpose of securing or attempting to secure any drug requiring a prescription from a practitioner as listed above and who is licensed by this State.

(2)        Who is subject to the requirements of N.C. Gen. Stat. § 90-101 or a practitioner to distribute or dispense a controlled substance in violation of N.C. Gen. Stat. § 90-105 or N.C. Gen. Stat. § 90-106

(3)        Who is a registrant to manufacture, distribute, or dispense a controlled substance not authorized by his or her registration to another registrant or other authorized person.

(4)        To omit, remove, alter, or obliterate a symbol required by the Federal Controlled Substances Act or its successor.

(5)        To refuse or fail to make, keep, or furnish any record, notification, order form, statement, invoice or information required under this Article.

(6)        To refuse any entry into any premises or inspection authorized by this Article.

(7)        To knowingly keep or maintain any store, shop, warehouse, dwelling house, building, vehicle, boat, aircraft, or any place whatever, which is resorted to by persons using controlled substances in violation of this Article for the purpose of using such substances, or which is used for the keeping or selling of the same in violation of this Article.

(8)        Who is a registrant or a practitioner to distribute a controlled substance included in Schedule I or II of this Article in the course of his or her legitimate business, except pursuant to an order form as required by N.C. Gen. Stat. § 90-105

(9)        To use in the course of the manufacture or distribution of a controlled substance a registration number which is fictitious, revoked, suspended, or issued to another person.

(10)      To acquire or obtain possession of a controlled substance by misrepresentation, fraud, forgery, deception, or subterfuge.

(11)      To furnish false or fraudulent material information in, or omit any material information from, any application, report, or other document required to be kept or filed under this Article, or any record required to be kept by this Article.

(12)      To make, distribute, or possess any punch, die, plate, stone, or other thing designed to print, imprint, or reproduce the trademark, trade name, or other identifying mark, imprint, or device of another or any likeness of any of the foregoing upon any drug or container or labeling thereof so as to render such drug a counterfeit controlled substance.

(13)      To obtain controlled substances through the use of legal prescriptions which have been obtained by the knowing and willful misrepresentation to or by the intentional withholding of information from one or more practitioners.

(14)      Who is a registrant or practitioner or an employee of a registrant or practitioner and who is authorized to possess controlled substances or has access to controlled substances by virtue of employment, to embezzle or fraudulently or knowingly and willfully misapply or divert to his or her own use or other unauthorized or illegal use or to take, make away with or secrete, with intent to embezzle or fraudulently or knowingly and willfully misapply or divert to his or her own use or other unauthorized or illegal use any controlled substance which shall have come into his or her possession or under his or her care.

(15)      Who is not a registrant or practitioner nor an employee of a registrant or practitioner and who, by virtue of his or her occupation or profession, administers or provides medical care, aid, emergency treatment, or any combination of these to a person who is prescribed a controlled substance, to embezzle or fraudulently or knowingly and willfully misapply or divert to his or her own use or other unauthorized or illegal use or to take, make away with, or secrete, with intent to embezzle or fraudulently or knowingly and willfully misapply or divert to his or her own use or other unauthorized or illegal use any controlled substance that is prescribed to another.

(b)        Any person who violates this section shall be guilty of a Class 1 misdemeanor. Provided, that if the criminal pleading alleges that the violation was committed intentionally, and upon trial it is specifically found that the violation was committed intentionally, such violations shall be a Class I felony unless one of the following applies:

(1)        A person who violates subdivision (7) of subsection (a) of this section and also fortifies the structure, with the intent to impede law enforcement entry, (by barricading windows and doors) shall be punished as a Class I felon.

(2)        A person who violates subdivision (14) or (15) of subsection (a) of this section shall be punished as a Class G felon.

(3)        A person who violates subdivision (14) or (15) of subsection (a) of this section and intentionally diverts any controlled substance by means of dilution or substitution or both shall be punished as a Class E felon. As used in this subdivision, the following terms have the following meanings:

a.         Dilution. – The act of diluting or the state of being diluted; the act of reducing the concentration of a mixture or solution.

b.         Substitution. – To take the place of or replace. ?(1971, c. 919, s. 1; 1973, c. 1358, s. 11; 1979, c. 760, ss. 5, 6; 1979, 2nd Sess., c. 1316, s. 47; 1981, c. 63, s. 1; c. 179, s. 14; 1983, c. 294, s. 7; c. 773; 1991 (Reg. Sess., 1992), c. 1041, s. 1; 1993, c. 539, s. 622; 1994, Ex. Sess., c. 24, s. 14(c); 2013-90, s. 1; 2018-44, s. 9.)

Attorney's Note

Under the N.C. Gen. Statutes, punishments for crimes depend on the classification. In the case of this section:
ClassPrisonFine
Class I felonybetween 3 and 12 months
Class 1 misdemeanorup to 120 days
For details, see § 15A-1340.17 and § 15A-1340.23

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Terms Used In North Carolina General Statutes 90-108

  • Controlled substance: means a drug, substance, or immediate precursor included in Schedules I through VI of this Article. See North Carolina General Statutes 90-87
  • Counterfeit controlled substance: means :

    a. See North Carolina General Statutes 90-87

  • 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 that delivery. See North Carolina General Statutes 90-87
  • Distribute: means to deliver other than by administering or dispensing a controlled substance. See North Carolina General Statutes 90-87
  • Drug: means a. See North Carolina General Statutes 90-87
  • following: when used by way of reference to any section of a statute, shall be construed to mean the section next preceding or next following that in which such reference is made; unless when some other section is expressly designated in such reference. See North Carolina General Statutes 12-3
  • Forgery: The fraudulent signing or alteration of another's name to an instrument such as a deed, mortgage, or check. The intent of the forgery is to deceive or defraud. Source: OCC
  • Fraud: Intentional deception resulting in injury to another.
  • Manufacture: means the production, preparation, propagation, compounding, conversion, or processing of a controlled substance by any means, whether directly or indirectly, artificially or naturally, or by extraction from substances of a natural origin, or independently by means of chemical synthesis, or by a combination of extraction and chemical synthesis; and "manufacture" further 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. See North Carolina General Statutes 90-87

  • Person: means individual, corporation, government or governmental subdivision or agency, business trust, estate, trust, partnership or association, or any other legal entity. See North Carolina General Statutes 90-87
  • Practitioner: means :

    a. See North Carolina General Statutes 90-87

  • Prescription: means :

    a. See North Carolina General Statutes 90-87

  • Registrant: means a person registered by the Commission to manufacture, distribute, or dispense any controlled substance as required by this Article. See North Carolina General Statutes 90-87
  • Registration: A dog handler who is not exempt from registration under N. See North Carolina General Statutes 90-102.1
  • State: means the State of North Carolina. See North Carolina General Statutes 90-87
  • Trial: A hearing that takes place when the defendant pleads "not guilty" and witnesses are required to come to court to give evidence.