Heroin is a schedule I drug secondary to the Controlled Substances Act (CSA) – the statute establishing federal U.S. drug policy under which the manufacture, importation, possession, use and distribution of certain substances is regulated. The CSA was passed in 1970. The Act created five Schedules (classifications), with varying qualifications for a substance to be included in each.
A substance meets criteria for Schedule I classification if:
The drug/substance has a high potential for abuse.
The drug/substance has no currently accepted medical use in treatment in the United States.
There is a lack of accepted safety for use of the drug or other substance under medical supervision.
That said, as already noted, heroin was initially considered a potential cure for morphine addiction, before its high propensity for addiction was recognized. Early heroin marketing also recommended it as treatment for tuberculosis and other diseases with coughing symptoms.