Guidance for Industry
Street Drug Alternatives
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
Food and Drug Administration
Center for Drug Evaluation and Research (CDER)
March 2000
Compliance Guidance for Industry
Street Drug Alternatives
Additional copies of this Guidance are available from:
 Office of Training and Communications
 Division of Communications Management
Drug Information Branch, HFD-210
Center for Drug Evaluation and Research
Food and Drug Administration
 5600 Fishers Lane, Rockville, MD  20857
(Phone 301-827-4573)
Internet:   http://www.fda.gov/cder/guidance/index.htm.
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
Food and Drug Administration
Center for Drug Evaluation and Research (CDER)
March 2000
Compliance 1
Guidance for Industry
Street Drug Alternatives
I. INTRODUCTION
This guidance is intended for those persons who are manufacturing, marketing, or
distributing alternatives to illicit street drugs.  FDA considers any product that is
promoted as a street drug alternative to be an unapproved new drug and a misbranded
drug in violation of sections 505 and 502 of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act
(the Act).  Such violations may result in regulatory action, including seizure and
injunction.
II. BACKGROUND
The Agency has become aware of the proliferation of various products that are being
manufactured, marketed, or distributed as alternatives to illicit street drugs (street drug
alternatives).  FDA is concerned that these products are being abused by individuals,
including minors, and pose a potential threat to the public health.
Street drug alternatives are generally labeled as containing botanicals, and some are also
labeled as containing other ingredients, such as vitamins, minerals, or amino acids.  They
are marketed under a variety of brand names with claims implying that these products
mimic the effects of controlled substances.  Many of these products are promoted on the
Internet and in counterculture magazines as alternatives to illicit street drugs such as
MDMA (4-methyl-2, dimethoxyamphetamine), a methamphetamine analogue, also
known as ecstasy, XTC, and X.  Other examples of products whose names imply street
drug alternative use are e-Ludes, Hextacy, and Herbal Koke.
These products are intended to be used for recreational purposes to effect psychological
states (e.g., to get high, to promote euphoria, or to induce hallucinations) and have
potential for abuse.  FDA considers these street drug alternatives to be unapproved new
drugs and misbranded drugs under sections 505 and 502 of the Act.
                                                
1This guidance has been prepared by the Office of Compliance, Division of Labeling and
Nonprescription Drug Compliance, in the Center for Drug Evaluation and Research (CDER), Food and
Drug Administration.  This guidance represents the Agencys current thinking on street drug alternatives.
It does not create or confer any rights for or on any person and does not operate to bind FDA or the public.
An alternative approach may be used if such approach satisfies the requirements of the applicable statute,
regulations, or both. FDA is also aware that some of these street drug alternatives are being marketed as
dietary supplements.  FDA does not consider street drug alternatives to be dietary
supplements.  The term dietary supplement as defined in section 201(ff) of the Act
means, inter alia, a product "intended to supplement the diet."  While the Act does not
elaborate on the meaning of this phrase, many congressional findings, set forth in the
Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act of 1994, suggest that dietary supplements
are intended to be used to augment the diet to promote health and reduce the risk of
disease.  FDA does not believe that street drug alternatives are intended to be used to
augment the diet to promote health or reduce the risk of disease.  Moreover, FDA
considers the diet to be composed of usual food and drink that may be designed to meet
specific nutritional requirements.  Illicit street drugs are not food or drink, and neither
they, nor alternative street drugs, can be said to supplement the diet.  Rather, these
products are intended to be used for recreational purposes to effect psychological states
(e.g., to get high, to promote euphoria, or to induce hallucinations).  Accordingly, street
drug alternatives are not intended to supplement the diet and are not dietary supplements.
This position is consistent with that set forth at 62 Fed. Reg. 30678, 30699-700 (June 4,
1997).
III. POLICY
FDA considers any product that is promoted as a street drug alternative to be an
unapproved new drug and a misbranded drug in violation of sections 505 and 502 of the
Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act.  Such violations may result in regulatory action,
including seizure and injunction