Why Does the DEA Reclassify?

Recently the narcotic Vicodin was reclassified by the DEA, being changed from a CIII to a CII. There are a few circumstances in which the DEA can and will reevaluate and reclassify controlled substances, and Vicodin met these criterion.

Do a basic web search to research the DEA criterion for reclassifying a controlled substance.

Do you believe they were justified in their decision? Does this help to control the overuse without preventing patients from getting the medication who actually need it? Or does it delay and make it harder for patients to get the medication and do little to control the abuse?

Find research to support your position and write a 2-page paper that defends your stance, using APA format. Remember to cite all your sources. You will be scored on your grammar and organization as well, so be sure and spend time revising before submitting.

You must proofread your paper. But do not strictly rely on your computer’s spell-checker and grammar-checker; failure to do so indicates a lack of effort on your part and you can expect your grade to suffer accordingly. Papers with numerous misspelled words and grammatical mistakes will be penalized. Read over your paper – in silence and then aloud – before handing it in and make corrections as necessary. Often it is advantageous to have a friend proofread your paper for obvious errors. Handwritten corrections are preferable to uncorrected mistakes.

Use a standard 10 to 12 point (10 to 12 characters per inch) typeface. Smaller or compressed type and papers with small margins or single-spacing are hard to read. It is better to let your essay run over the recommended number of pages than to try to compress it into fewer pages.

Likewise, large type, large margins, large indentations, triple-spacing, increased leading (space between lines), increased kerning (space between letters), and any other such attempts at “padding” to increase the length of a paper are unacceptable, wasteful of trees, and will not fool your professor.

The paper must be neatly formatted, double-spaced with a one-inch margin on the top, bottom, and sides of each page. When submitting hard copy, be sure to use white paper and print out using dark ink. If it is hard to read your essay, it will also be hard to follow your argument.