(a)  The director of health shall register an applicant to manufacture, distribute, prescribe, administer, or dispense controlled substances unless he or she determines that the issuance of that registration would be inconsistent with the public interest. In determining the public interest, the director of health may consider, but shall not be limited to, the following factors:

(1)  Maintenance of effective controls against diversion of controlled substances into other than legitimate medical, scientific, or industrial channels;

(2)  Compliance with applicable federal, state, and local law;

(3)  Conviction of a crime or plea of nolo contendere by the applicant of any state or federal law involving the sale of, trafficking in, or abuse of a controlled substance;

(4)  Past experience in the manufacture, distribution, prescribing, administration, or dispensing of controlled substances, and the existence in the applicant’s establishment of effective controls against diversion;

(5)  Furnishing by the applicant of false or fraudulent material in any application filed under this chapter;

(6)  Suspension or revocation of the applicant’s federal registration to manufacture, distribute, prescribe, administer, or dispense controlled substances as authorized by federal law.

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Terms Used In Rhode Island General Laws 21-28-3.03

  • Administer: refers to the direct application of controlled substances to the body of a patient or research subject by:

    (i)  A practitioner, or, in his or her presence by his or her authorized agent; or

    (ii)  The patient or research subject at the direction and in the presence of the practitioner whether the application is by injection, inhalation, ingestion, or any other means. See Rhode Island General Laws 21-28-1.02

  • Controlled substance: means a drug, substance, immediate precursor, or synthetic drug in schedules I — V of this chapter. See Rhode Island General Laws 21-28-1.02
  • Director: means the director of health. See Rhode Island General Laws 21-28-1.02
  • Dispense: means to deliver, distribute, leave with, give away, or dispose of a controlled substance to the ultimate user or human research subject by or pursuant to the lawful order of a practitioner, including the packaging, labeling, or compounding necessary to prepare the substance for that delivery. See Rhode Island General Laws 21-28-1.02
  • Distribute: means to deliver (other than by administering or dispensing) a controlled substance or an imitation controlled substance and includes actual constructive, or attempted transfer. See Rhode Island General Laws 21-28-1.02
  • Evidence: Information presented in testimony or in documents that is used to persuade the fact finder (judge or jury) to decide the case for one side or the other.
  • Federal law: means the Comprehensive Drug Abuse Prevention and Control Act of 1970, (84 stat. See Rhode Island General Laws 21-28-1.02
  • Manufacture: means the production, preparation, propagation, cultivation, compounding, or processing of a drug or other substance, including an imitation controlled substance, either directly or indirectly or 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 in conformity with the general laws of this state except by a practitioner as an incident to his or her administration or dispensing of the drug or substance in the course of his or her professional practice. See Rhode Island General Laws 21-28-1.02
  • Nolo contendere: No contest-has the same effect as a plea of guilty, as far as the criminal sentence is concerned, but may not be considered as an admission of guilt for any other purpose.
  • Plea: In a criminal case, the defendant's statement pleading "guilty" or "not guilty" in answer to the charges, a declaration made in open court.

(b)  Registration under subsection (a) of this section does not entitle a registrant to manufacture and distribute controlled substances in schedule I or II other than those specified in his or her registration.

(c)  Practitioners must be registered in accordance with subsection (a) of this section to prescribe, administer, and dispense any controlled substance or to conduct research with controlled substances in schedules II through V. The director of health need not require separate registration under this section for practitioners engaging in research with non-narcotic controlled substances in schedules II through V where the registrant is already registered under this chapter in another capacity. Practitioners registered under federal law to conduct research with schedule I substances may conduct research with schedule I substances within this state upon furnishing the director of health evidence of that federal registration.

(d)  Compliance by manufacturers and distributors with the provisions of the federal law respecting registration (excluding fees) entitles them to be registered under this chapter.

History of Section.
P.L. 1974, ch. 183, § 2; P.L. 1980, ch. 257, § 1.