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6 

XIULU RUAN v. UNITED STATES 

Opinion of the Court 

States, 530 U. S. 255, 269 (2000); emphasis added).  Unsur-
prisingly,  given  the  meaning  of  scienter,  the  mens  rea  we 
have read into such statutes is often that of knowledge or 
intent.  See, e.g., Staples v. United States, 511 U. S. 600, 619 
(1994);  United  States  v.  United  States  Gypsum  Co.,  438 
U. S. 422, 444–446 (1978).

And when  a statute is not silent as to mens  rea but in-
stead “includes a general scienter provision,” “the presump-
tion applies with equal or greater force” to the scope of that
provision.  Rehaif, 588 U. S., at ___ (slip op., at 3) (emphasis 
added).  We  have  accordingly  held  that  a  word  such  as 
“knowingly” modifies not only the words directly following
it,  but  also  those  other  statutory  terms  that  “separate
wrongful from innocent acts.”  Id., at ___ (slip op., at 6); see, 
e.g., ibid.; United States v. X-Citement Video, Inc., 513 U. S. 
64, 72 (1994); Liparota v. United States, 471 U. S. 419, 426 
(1985).

Section  841  contains  a  general  scienter  provision—
“knowingly or intentionally.”  And in §841 prosecutions, a
lack of authorization is often what separates wrongfulness 
from  innocence.  Defendants  who  produce  evidence  that
they are “authorized” to dispense controlled substances are 
often  doctors  dispensing  drugs  via  prescription.    We  nor-
mally would not view such dispensations as inherently ille-
gitimate;  we  expect,  and  indeed  usually  want,  doctors  to
prescribe the medications that their patients need.  In §841 
prosecutions, then, it is the fact that the doctor issued an 
unauthorized prescription that renders his or her conduct 
wrongful,  not  the  fact  of  the  dispensation  itself.    In  other 
words, authorization plays a “crucial” role in separating in-
nocent conduct—and, in the case of doctors, socially benefi-
cial  conduct—from  wrongful  conduct.  X-Citement  Video, 
513 U. S., at 73.  Applying §841’s “knowingly or intention-
ally” mens rea to the authorization clause thus “helps ad-
vance the purpose of scienter, for it helps to separate wrong-
ful from innocent acts.”  Rehaif, 588 U. S., at ___ (slip op.,