Neb. Rev. Stat. § 28-401

Current with changes through the 2024 First Special Legislative Session

Section 28-401 - [Effective Until 1/1/2025] Terms, defined

As used in the Uniform Controlled Substances Act, unless the context otherwise requires:

(1) Administer means to directly apply a controlled substance by injection, inhalation, ingestion, or any other means to the body of a patient or research subject;

(2) Agent means an authorized person who acts on behalf of or at the direction of another person but does not include a common or contract carrier, public warehouse keeper, or employee of a carrier or warehouse keeper;

(3) Administration means the Drug Enforcement Administration of the United States Department of Justice;

(4) Controlled substance means a drug, biological, substance, or immediate precursor in Schedules I through V of section 28-405. Controlled substance does not include distilled spirits, wine, malt beverages, tobacco, hemp, or any nonnarcotic substance if such substance may, under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, 21 U.S.C. 301 et seq., as such act existed on January 1, 2014, and the law of this state, be lawfully sold over the counter without a prescription;

(5) 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 or persons 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;

(6) Department means the Department of Health and Human Services;

(7) Division of Drug Control means the personnel of the Nebraska State Patrol who are assigned to enforce the Uniform Controlled Substances Act;

(8) Dispense means to deliver a controlled substance to an ultimate user or a research subject pursuant to a medical order issued by a practitioner authorized to prescribe, including the packaging, labeling, or compounding necessary to prepare the controlled substance for such delivery;

(9) Distribute means to deliver other than by administering or dispensing a controlled substance;

(10) Prescribe means to issue a medical order;

(11) Drug means (a) articles recognized in the official United States Pharmacopoeia, official Homeopathic Pharmacopoeia of the United States, official National Formulary, or any supplement to any of them, (b) substances intended for use in the diagnosis, cure, mitigation, treatment, or prevention of disease in human beings or animals, and (c) substances intended for use as a component of any article specified in subdivision (a) or (b) of this subdivision, but does not include devices or their components, parts, or accessories;

(12) Deliver or delivery means the actual, constructive, or attempted transfer from one person to another of a controlled substance, whether or not there is an agency relationship;

(13) Hemp has the same meaning as in section 2-503;

(14)

(a) Marijuana means all parts of the plant of the genus cannabis, whether growing or not, the seeds thereof, and every compound, manufacture, salt, derivative, mixture, or preparation of such plant or its seeds.

(b) Marijuana does not include the mature stalks of such plant, hashish, tetrahydrocannabinols extracted or isolated from the plant, fiber produced from such stalks, oil or cake made from the seeds of such plant, any other compound, manufacture, salt, derivative, mixture, or preparation of such mature stalks, the sterilized seed of such plant which is incapable of germination, or cannabidiol contained in a drug product approved by the federal Food and Drug Administration.

(c) Marijuana does not include hemp.

(d) When the weight of marijuana is referred to in the Uniform Controlled Substances Act, it means its weight at or about the time it is seized or otherwise comes into the possession of law enforcement authorities, whether cured or uncured at that time.

(e) When industrial hemp as defined in section 2-5701 is in the possession of a person as authorized under section 2-5701, it is not considered marijuana for purposes of the Uniform Controlled Substances Act;

(15) Manufacture means the production, preparation, propagation, conversion, or processing of a controlled substance, either directly or indirectly, 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. Manufacture does not include the preparation or compounding of a controlled substance by an individual for his or her own use, except for the preparation or compounding of components or ingredients used for or intended to be used for the manufacture of methamphetamine, or the preparation, compounding, conversion, packaging, or labeling of a controlled substance:

(a) By a practitioner as an incident to his or her prescribing, administering, or dispensing of a controlled substance in the course of his or her professional practice; or

(b) by a practitioner, or by his or her authorized agent under his or her supervision, for the purpose of, or as an incident to, research, teaching, or chemical analysis and not for sale;

(16) Narcotic drug means any of the following, whether produced directly or indirectly by extraction from substances of vegetable origin, independently by means of chemical synthesis, or by a combination of extraction and chemical synthesis:

(a) Opium, opium poppy and poppy straw, coca leaves, and opiates;

(b) a compound, manufacture, salt, derivative, or preparation of opium, coca leaves, or opiates; or

(c) a substance and any compound, manufacture, salt, derivative, or preparation thereof which is chemically equivalent to or identical with any of the substances referred to in subdivisions (a) and (b) of this subdivision, except that the words narcotic drug as used in the Uniform Controlled Substances Act does not include decocainized coca leaves or extracts of coca leaves, which extracts do not contain cocaine or ecgonine, or isoquinoline alkaloids of opium;

(17) Opiate means any substance having an addiction-forming or addiction-sustaining liability similar to morphine or being capable of conversion into a drug having such addiction-forming or addiction-sustaining liability. Opiate does not include the dextrorotatory isomer of 3-methoxy-n methylmorphinan and its salts. Opiate includes its racemic and levorotatory forms;

(18) Opium poppy means the plant of the species Papaver somniferum L., except the seeds thereof;

(19) Poppy straw means all parts, except the seeds, of the opium poppy after mowing;

(20) Person means any corporation, association, partnership, limited liability company, or one or more persons;

(21) Practitioner means a physician, a physician assistant, a dentist, a veterinarian, a pharmacist, a podiatrist, an optometrist, a certified nurse midwife, a certified registered nurse anesthetist, a nurse practitioner, a scientific investigator, a pharmacy, a hospital, or any other person licensed, registered, or otherwise permitted to distribute, dispense, prescribe, conduct research with respect to, or administer a controlled substance in the course of practice or research in this state, including an emergency medical service as defined in section 38-1207;

(22) Production includes the manufacture, planting, cultivation, or harvesting of a controlled substance;

(23) Immediate precursor means a substance which is 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, the control of which is necessary to prevent, curtail, or limit such manufacture;

(24) State means the State of Nebraska;

(25) Ultimate user means a person who lawfully possesses a controlled substance for his or her own use, for the use of a member of his or her household, or for administration to an animal owned by him or her or by a member of his or her household;

(26) Hospital has the same meaning as in section 71-419;

(27) Cooperating individual means any person, other than a commissioned law enforcement officer, who acts on behalf of, at the request of, or as agent for a law enforcement agency for the purpose of gathering or obtaining evidence of offenses punishable under the Uniform Controlled Substances Act;

(28)

(a) Hashish or concentrated cannabis means (i) the separated resin, whether crude or purified, obtained from a plant of the genus cannabis or (ii) any material, preparation, mixture, compound, or other substance which contains ten percent or more by weight of tetrahydrocannabinols.

(b) When resins extracted from (i) industrial hemp as defined in section 2-5701 are in the possession of a person as authorized under section 2-5701 or (ii) hemp as defined in section 2-503 are in the possession of a person as authorized under the Nebraska Hemp Farming Act, they are not considered hashish or concentrated cannabis for purposes of the Uniform Controlled Substances Act.

(c) Hashish or concentrated cannabis does not include cannabidiol contained in a drug product approved by the federal Food and Drug Administration;

(29) Exceptionally hazardous drug means (a) a narcotic drug, (b) thiophene analog of phencyclidine, (c) phencyclidine, (d) amobarbital, (e) secobarbital, (f) pentobarbital, (g) amphetamine, or (h) methamphetamine;

(30) Imitation controlled substance means a substance which is not a controlled substance or controlled substance analogue but which, by way of express or implied representations and consideration of other relevant factors including those specified in section 28-445, would lead a reasonable person to believe the substance is a controlled substance or controlled substance analogue. A placebo or registered investigational drug manufactured, distributed, possessed, or delivered in the ordinary course of practice or research by a health care professional shall not be deemed to be an imitation controlled substance;

(31)

(a) Controlled substance analogue means a substance (i) the chemical structure of which is substantially similar to the chemical structure of a Schedule I or Schedule II controlled substance as provided in section 28-405 or (ii) which has a stimulant, depressant, analgesic, or hallucinogenic effect on the central nervous system that is substantially similar to or greater than the stimulant, depressant, analgesic, or hallucinogenic effect on the central nervous system of a Schedule I or Schedule II controlled substance as provided in section 28-405. A controlled substance analogue shall, to the extent intended for human consumption, be treated as a controlled substance under Schedule I of section 28-405 for purposes of the Uniform Controlled Substances Act; and

(b) Controlled substance analogue does not include (i) a controlled substance, (ii) 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., as such act existed on January 1, 2014, (iii) any substance for which there is an approved new drug application, or (iv) 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, as such section existed on January 1, 2014, to the extent conduct with respect to such substance is pursuant to such exemption;

(32) Anabolic steroid means any drug or hormonal substance, chemically and pharmacologically related to testosterone (other than estrogens, progestins, and corticosteroids), that promotes muscle growth and includes any controlled substance in Schedule III(d) of section 28-405. Anabolic steroid does not include any anabolic steroid which is expressly intended for administration through implants to cattle or other nonhuman species and has been approved by the Secretary of Health and Human Services for such administration, but if any person prescribes, dispenses, or distributes such a steroid for human use, such person shall be considered to have prescribed, dispensed, or distributed an anabolic steroid within the meaning of this subdivision;

(33) Chart order means an order for a controlled substance issued by a practitioner for a patient who is in the hospital where the chart is stored or for a patient receiving detoxification treatment or maintenance treatment pursuant to section 28-412. Chart order does not include a prescription;

(34) Medical order means a prescription, a chart order, or an order for pharmaceutical care issued by a practitioner;

(35) Prescription means an order for a controlled substance issued by a practitioner. Prescription does not include a chart order;

(36) Registrant means any person who has a controlled substances registration issued by the state or the Drug Enforcement Administration of the United States Department of Justice;

(37) Reverse distributor means a person whose primary function is to act as an agent for a pharmacy, wholesaler, manufacturer, or other entity by receiving, inventorying, and managing the disposition of outdated, expired, or otherwise nonsaleable controlled substances;

(38) Signature means the name, word, or mark of a person written in his or her own hand with the intent to authenticate a writing or other form of communication or a digital signature which complies with section 86-611 or an electronic signature;

(39) Facsimile means a copy generated by a system that encodes a document or photograph into electrical signals, transmits those signals over telecommunications lines, and reconstructs the signals to create an exact duplicate of the original document at the receiving end;

(40) Electronic signature has the definition found in section 86-621;

(41) Electronic transmission means transmission of information in electronic form. Electronic transmission includes computer-to-computer transmission or computer-to-facsimile transmission;

(42) Long-term care facility means an intermediate care facility, an intermediate care facility for persons with developmental disabilities, a long-term care hospital, a mental health substance use treatment center, a nursing facility, or a skilled nursing facility, as such terms are defined in the Health Care Facility Licensure Act;

(43) Compounding has the same meaning as in section 38-2811;

(44) Cannabinoid receptor agonist means any chemical compound or substance that, according to scientific or medical research, study, testing, or analysis, demonstrates the presence of binding activity at one or more of the CB1 or CB2 cell membrane receptors located within the human body. Cannabinoid receptor agonist does not include cannabidiol contained in a drug product approved by the federal Food and Drug Administration; and

(45) Lookalike substance means a product or substance, not specifically designated as a controlled substance in section 28-405, that is either portrayed in such a manner by a person to lead another person to reasonably believe that it produces effects on the human body that replicate, mimic, or are intended to simulate the effects produced by a controlled substance or that possesses one or more of the following indicia or characteristics:

(a) The packaging or labeling of the product or substance suggests that the user will achieve euphoria, hallucination, mood enhancement, stimulation, or another effect on the human body that replicates or mimics those produced by a controlled substance;

(b) The name or packaging of the product or substance uses images or labels suggesting that it is a controlled substance or produces effects on the human body that replicate or mimic those produced by a controlled substance;

(c) The product or substance is marketed or advertised for a particular use or purpose and the cost of the product or substance is disproportionately higher than other products or substances marketed or advertised for the same or similar use or purpose;

(d) The packaging or label on the product or substance contains words or markings that state or suggest that the product or substance is in compliance with state and federal laws regulating controlled substances;

(e) The owner or person in control of the product or substance uses evasive tactics or actions to avoid detection or inspection of the product or substance by law enforcement authorities;

(f) The owner or person in control of the product or substance makes a verbal or written statement suggesting or implying that the product or substance is a synthetic drug or that consumption of the product or substance will replicate or mimic effects on the human body to those effects commonly produced through use or consumption of a controlled substance;

(g) The owner or person in control of the product or substance makes a verbal or written statement to a prospective customer, buyer, or recipient of the product or substance implying that the product or substance may be resold for profit; or

(h) The product or substance contains a chemical or chemical compound that does not have a legitimate relationship to the use or purpose claimed by the seller, distributor, packer, or manufacturer of the product or substance or indicated by the product name, appearing on the product's packaging or label or depicted in advertisement of the product or substance.

Neb. Rev. Stat. § 28-401

Laws 1977, LB 38, § 61; Laws 1978, LB 276, § 1; Laws 1980, LB 696, § 1; Laws 1985, LB 323, § 1; Laws 1985, LB 406, § 2; Laws 1988, LB 273, § 3; Laws 1988, LB 537, § 1; Laws 1992, LB 1019, § 30; Laws 1993, LB 121, § 175; Laws 1996, LB 1044, § 68; Laws 1996, LB 1108, § 1; Laws 1997, LB 307, § 3; Laws 1999, LB 379, § 1; Laws 2001, LB 398, § 1; Laws 2002, LB 1105, § 428; Laws 2003, LB 200, § 1; Laws 2005, LB 117, § 1; Laws 2005, LB 256, § 16; Laws 2005, LB 382, § 1; Laws 2007, LB247, § 1; Laws 2007, LB296, § 35; Laws 2007, LB463, § 1119; Laws 2009, LB 195,§ 1; Laws 2013, LB 23,§ 4; Laws 2014, LB 811,§ 2; Laws 2014, LB 1001,§ 2; Laws 2015, LB 390,§ 2; Laws 2016, LB 1009,§ 2; Laws 2017, LB 487,§ 3; Laws 2018, LB 1034,§ 1; Laws 2019, LB 657,§ 22; Laws 2021, LB 236,§ 1.

Amended by Laws 2021, LB 236,§ 1, eff. 8/28/2021.

Amended by Laws 2019, LB 657,§ 22, eff. 5/31/2019.

Amended by Laws 2018, LB 1034,§ 1, eff. 7/19/2018.

Amended by Laws 2017, LB 487,§ 3, eff. 8/24/2017.

Amended by Laws 2016, LB 1009,§ 2, eff. 3/31/2016.

Amended by Laws 2015, LB 390,§ 2, eff. 5/28/2015.

Amended by Laws 2014, LB 1001,§ 2, eff. 7/18/2014.

Amended by Laws 2014, LB 811,§ 2, eff. 7/18/2014.

This section is set out more than once due to postponed, multiple, or conflicting amendments.