As used in the Drug Precursor Act:

A. "administer" means the direct application of a controlled substance by any means to the body of a patient or research subject by a practitioner or the practitioner's agent;

B. "agent" includes an authorized person who acts on behalf of a manufacturer, distributor or dispenser. "Agent" does not include a common or contract carrier, public warehouseperson or employee of the carrier or warehouseperson;

C. "board" means the board of pharmacy;

D. "bureau" means the bureau of narcotics and dangerous drugs of the United States department of justice or its successor agency;

E. "controlled substance" means a drug or substance listed in Schedules I through V of the Controlled Substances Act [Chapter 30, Article 31 NMSA 1978] or regulations adopted thereto;

F. "controlled substance analog" means a substance other than a controlled substance that has a chemical structure substantially similar to that of a controlled substance in Schedule I, II, III, IV or V or that was specifically designed to produce effects substantially similar to that of controlled substances in Schedule I, II, III, IV or V. Examples of chemical classes in which controlled substance analogs are found include, but are not limited to, the following:

(1) phenethylamines;

(2) N-substituted piperidines;

(3) morphinans;

(4) ecgonines;

(5) quinazolinones;

(6) substituted indoles; and

(7) arylcycloalkylamines.

Specifically excluded from the definition of "controlled substance analog" are those substances that are generally recognized as safe and effective within the meaning of the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act or have been manufactured, distributed or possessed in conformance with the provisions of an approved new drug application or an exemption for investigational use within the meaning of Section 505 of the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act;

G. "deliver" means the actual, constructive or attempted transfer from one person to another of a controlled substance or controlled substance analog, whether or not there is an agency relationship;

H. "dispense" means to deliver a controlled substance to an ultimate user or research subject pursuant to the lawful order of a practitioner, including the administering, prescribing, packaging, labeling or compounding necessary to prepare the controlled substance for that delivery;

I. "dispenser" means a practitioner who dispenses and includes hospitals, pharmacies and clinics where controlled substances are dispensed;

J. "distribute" means to deliver other than by administering or dispensing a controlled substance or controlled substance analog;

K. "drug" means substances recognized as drugs in the official United States pharmacopoeia, official homeopathic pharmacopoeia of the United States, official national formulary or any respective supplement to these publications. "Drug" does not include devices or their components, parts or accessories;

L. "drug precursor" means a substance, material, compound, mixture or preparation listed in Section 30-31B-3 NMSA 1978 or regulations adopted thereto or any of their salts or isomers. "Drug precursor" specifically excludes those substances, materials, compounds, mixtures or preparations that are prepared for dispensing pursuant to a prescription or over-the-counter distribution as a substance that is generally recognized as safe and effective within the meaning of the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act or have been manufactured, distributed or possessed in conformance with the provisions of an approved new drug application or an exemption for investigational use within the meaning of Section 505 of the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act, unless the board makes the findings required pursuant to Subsection B of Section 30-31B-4 NMSA 1978;

M. "immediate precursor" means a substance that is a compound commonly used or produced primarily as an immediate chemical intermediary used in the manufacture of a controlled substance, the control of which is necessary to prevent, curtail or limit the manufacture of controlled substances;

N. "license" means a license issued by the board to manufacture, possess, transfer or transport a drug precursor;

O. "manufacture" means the production, preparation, compounding, conversion or processing of a drug precursor by extraction from substances of natural origin, 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 a practitioner:

(1) as an incident to the practitioner's administering or dispensing of a controlled substance in the course of professional practice; or

(2) by the practitioner's agent under the practitioner's supervision for the purpose of or as an incident to research, teaching or chemical analysis and not for sale;

P. "person" includes an individual, sole proprietorship, partnership, corporation, association, the state or a political subdivision of the state or other legal entity;

Q. "possession" means to actively or constructively exercise dominion over;

R. "practitioner" means a physician, certified advanced practice chiropractic physician, dentist, veterinarian or other person licensed to prescribe and administer drugs that are subject to the Controlled Substances Act;

S. "prescription" means an order given individually for the person for whom is prescribed a controlled substance, either directly from the prescriber to the pharmacist or indirectly by means of a written order signed by the prescriber and in accordance with the Controlled Substances Act or regulations adopted thereto; and

T. "transfer" means the sale, possession with intent to sell, barter or giving away of a drug precursor.

History: Laws 1989, ch. 177, § 2; 2004, ch. 9, § 2; 2004, ch. 12, § 2; 2008, ch. 44, § 6.

Cross references. — For the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act, see 21 U.S.C. § 301 et seq. For Section 505 of that act, see 21 U.S.C. § 355.

The 2008 amendment, effective May 14, 2008, added "certified advanced practice chiropractic physician" in Subsection R.

The 2004 amendment, effective July 1, 2004, in Subsection L, added "unless the board makes the findings required pursuant to Subsection B of Section 30-31B-4 NMSA 1978"; and in Subsection T, changed "controlled substance" to "drug precursor".

Pseudoephedrine cold tablets. — The defendant was improperly convicted of possession of drug precursors for possession of pseudoephedrine cold tablets in their original packaging. State v. Vance, 2009-NMCA-024, 145 N.M. 706, 204 P.3d 31, cert. denied, 2009-NMCERT-001, 145 N.M. 655, 203 P.3d 870.