The Controlled Substance Act of 1970 regulates the use and distribution of drugs with high abuse potential by placing them into how many schedules?

• A. Five schedules
• B. Three schedules
• C. Ten schedules
• D. No schedules

Answer: (A)

Drugs with high abuse potential are categorized into five schedules under the Controlled Substances Act, labeled I through V, based on their potential for abuse, accepted medical use, and safety. This five-tier system creates progressively tighter controls from Schedule I to Schedule V, guiding how each substance is prescribed, dispensed, and tracked. Because the Act intentionally uses five distinct schedules to regulate substances at different risk levels, five is the correct number. The other options don’t match the actual regulatory framework, and saying there are no schedules would misstate how these drugs are controlled.