Any interested person may submit a petition to initiate proceedings for the issuance, amendment, or repeal of any rule or regulation issuable pursuant to the provisions of section 201 of the Act.

Petitions shall be submitted in quintuplicate to the Administrator. See the Table of DEA Mailing Addresses in § 1321.01 of this chapter for the current mailing address. Petitions shall be in the following form:

Dear Sir: The undersigned ________ hereby petitions the Administrator to initiate proceedings for the issuance (amendment or repeal) of a rule or regulation pursuant to section 201 of the Controlled Substances Act.

Attached hereto and constituting a part of this petition are the following:

The proposed rule in the form proposed by the petitioner. (If the petitioner seeks the amendment or repeal of an existing rule, the existing rule, together with a reference to the section in the Code of Federal Regulations where it appears, should be included.)

A statement of the grounds which the petitioner relies for the issuance (amendment or repeal) of the rule. (Such grounds shall include a reasonably concise statement of the facts relied upon by the petitioner, including a summary of any relevant medical or scientific evidence known to the petitioner.)

All notices to be sent regarding this petition should be addressed to:

Respectfully yours,

Within a reasonable period of time after the receipt of a petition, the Administrator shall notify the petitioner of his acceptance or nonacceptance of the petition, and if not accepted, the reason therefor. The Administrator need not accept a petition for filing if any of the requirements prescribed in paragraph (b) of this section is lacking or is not set forth so as to be readily understood. If the petitioner desires, he may amend the petition to meet the requirements of paragraph (b) of this section. If accepted for filing, a petition may be denied by the Administrator within a reasonable period of time thereafter if he finds the grounds upon which the petitioner relies are not sufficient to justify the initiation of proceedings.

The Administrator shall, before initiating proceedings for the issuance, amendment, or repeal of any rule either to control a drug or other substance, or to transfer a drug or other substance from one schedule to another, or to remove a drug or other substance entirely from the schedules, and after gathering the necessary data, request from the Secretary a scientific and medical evaluation and the Secretary's recommendations as to whether such drug or other substance should be so controlled, transferred, or removed as a controlled substance. The recommendations of the Secretary to the Administrator shall be binding on the Administrator as to such scientific and medical matters, and if the Secretary recommends that a drug or other substance not be controlled, the Administrator shall not control that drug or other substance.

If the Administrator determines that the scientific and medical evaluation and recommendations of the Secretary and all other relevant data constitute substantial evidence of potential for abuse such as to warrant control or additional control over the drug or other substance, or substantial evidence that the drug or other substances should be subjected to lesser control or removed entirely from the schedules, he shall initiate proceedings for control, transfer, or removal as the case may be.

If and when the Administrator determines to initiate proceedings, he shall publish in the Federal Register general notice of any proposed rule making to issue, amend, or repeal any rule pursuant to section 201 of the Act. Such published notice shall include a statement of the time, place, and nature of any hearings on the proposal in the event a hearing is requested pursuant to § 1308.44. Such hearings may not be commenced until after the expiration of at least 30 days from the date the general notice is published in the Federal Register. Such published notice shall also include a reference to the legal authority under which the rule is proposed, a statement of the proposed rule, and, in the discretion of the Administrator, a summary of the subjects and issues involved.

The Administrator may permit any interested persons to file written comments on or objections to the proposal and shall designate in the notice of proposed rule making the time during which such filings may be made.