As Paramedics, it's important for us to know and understand controlled substances and how they are categorized and scheduled by the Federal Drug Administration (DEA). Controlled drugs are rated in the order of their abuse risk and placed in Schedules by the Federal Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA). The drugs with the highest abuse potential are placed in Schedule I, and those with the lowest abuse potential are in Schedule V. These schedules are also commonly shown as C-I, C-II, C-III, C-IV, and C-V.
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Schedule I drugs are considered by the government to have a high potential for abuse, no established medical use, and a lack of safety for use of the drug even under medical supervision. Examples include Heroin, LSD, Cocaine, and Marijuana.
Schedule II drugs have a High abuse potential and severe dependence liability although they do have accepted medical use but with severe restrictions. These class of drugs are available through signed prescription only and in limited quantities. Examples include Opium, Ritalin, Morphine and Methadone.
Schedule III drugs have less abuse potential than Schedule I and II, and accepted medical use by prescription only. Abuse of the drug or other substance may lead to moderate or low physical dependence or high psychological dependence. Examples include Codeine, short-acting barbiturates, amphetamines, Pentobarbital, as well as Anabolic Steroids.
Schedule IV drugs have a low potential for abuse relative to the drugs or other substances in Schedules III and accepted medical use by prescription. Abuse of these drugs or other substances may lead to limited physical or psychological dependence relative to the drugs or other substances in Schedule III. Examples include Xanax, Valium, Ativan, and Ambien.
At the lower end of the spectrum are Schedule V drugs, which are considered by the government to have a low potential for abuse, a currently accepted medical use in the United States. Abuse of these drugs can lead to a mild physical dependence. Prescriptions may not be necessary, but transactions must be recorded. An example would be cough suppressants with small amounts of codeine such as Robitussin as well as other prescription drugs with small amounts of opiates.
Recent changes to Oregon's expungement statute (ORS 137.225) expand the list of crimes that can be expunged while shortening the waiting periods for those eligible for expungement. For example, convictions for contributing to the sexual delinquency of a minor, rape III, sexual abuse III and sodomy III may be expunged if the person seeking expungement has obtained a court order relieving them of the obligation to report as a sex offender. Convictions for certain Class C felony sex crimes are also eligible based on the relative ages of the perpetrator and victim at the time of the offense.
Under the new law effective January 1, 2016 Class B felony drug possession convictions are now eligible for expungement three years after judgment. This means that those convicted of possessing ecstasy, heroin, methamphetamine, LSD and other Schedule I drugs will no longer have to wait 20 years to have their records 1v lsd sealed.
The new law also gives relief to those convicted of a crime who is later convicted of a minor violation such as nonpayment of TriMet fare. In the past, any such violation would "restart" the eligibility clock from the date of the violation. Now, a person seeking expungement gets one "free ride", meaning that a single violation will not count as a conviction for the purposes of expungement eligibility.
While most of the recent changes to the law are favorable, there is also some bad news for those who have had their probation revoked. As of January 1, 2016 those individuals must now wait ten years from the date of revocation before they can apply for expungement.
These recent changes to Oregon's expungement law are overwhelmingly favorable for people seeking to put their past mistakes behind them. However, the various time limits and exceptions built into the law make the expungement process very complicated, so consultation with an attorney is essential to assure that your expungement is handled properly.
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