2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE TWENTY-FOUR - Health and Sanitation (§§ 1 — 15010) › PART V - Controlled Substances (§§ 2101 — 2608) › Chapter 111 - Controlled Substances Act of Puerto Rico (§§ 2101 — 2608) › Subchapter I - Short Title and Definitions (§§ 2101 — 2102) › § 2102 - Definitions

The words and phrases defined in this section shall have the meaning stated below unless otherwise indicated by the text of this chapter:
(1) Addict.— Means any individual who habitually uses any narcotic drug so as to endanger the public morals, health, safety or welfare, or who is so far addicted to the use of narcotic drugs as to have lost the power of self-control with reference to his addiction.
(2) Administer.— Means the direct application of a controlled substance to the body of a patient or research subject by a practitioner or by his authorized agent or by the patient or research subject under the direction and with the authorization of the practitioner whether such application be by injection, inhalation, ingestion or any other means.
(3) Patient.— Means any human being or animal who is under the care and attention of a physician, dentist or veterinarian.
(4) Agent.— Means an authorized person who acts on behalf of or at the direction of a manufacturer, distributor or dispenser, but does not include common carriers or transport enterprises, public warehousemen or their employees.
(5) Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs.— Means the Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs in the Department of Justice of the United States.
(6) Control.— Means to add a drug or other substance, or immediate precursor, to a schedule, under §§ 2201 and 2202 of this title, or to eliminate or transfer it from another schedule.
(7) Controlled substance.— Means a drug or other substance or immediate precursor, included in Schedules I, II, III, IV and V of § 2202 of this title. Said term shall not include alcoholic beverages, distilled spirits, wines, or malt beverages, as those terms are defined in the Alcoholic Beverages Act of Puerto Rico, Act No. 143 of June 30, 1969.
(8) Counterfeit substance.— Means a controlled substance which, or the container or labeling of which, without authorization, bears the trademark, trade name, or other identifying mark, imprint, number, or device, or any likeness thereof, of a manufacturer, distributor, or dispenser other than the person or persons who in fact manufactured, distributed, or dispensed such substance and which thereby falsely purports or is represented to be the product of, or to have been distributed by, such other manufacturer, distributor, or dispenser.
(9) Deliver or delivery.— Means the actual, indirect, or attempted transfer of a controlled substance, whether or not there exists an agency relationship.
(10) Depressant or stimulant drug.— Means:
(A) A drug which contains any quantity of:
(i) Barbituric acid or any of the salts of barbituric acid, or
(ii) any derivative of barbituric acid which has been designated by the Secretary of Health of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico and by the Secretary of Health, Education and Welfare of the United States as habit forming under § 502(d) of the “Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act” (52 Stat. 1050, 21 U.S.C. 352(d));
(B) a drug which contains any quantity of:
(i) Amphetamine or any of its optical isomers;
(ii) any salt of amphetamine or any salt of an optical isomer of amphetamine; or
(iii) any substance which the Secretary of Health, Education and Welfare of the United States and the Secretary of Health of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, after investigation, have found to be, and by regulation designated as, habit forming because of its stimulant effect on the central nervous system; or
(C) lysergic acid diethylamide, or
(D) any drug which contains any quantity of a substance which the Secretary of Health, Education and Welfare of the United States and the Secretary of Health of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, after investigation, have found to have, and by regulation determined as having, a potential for abuse because of its depressant or stimulant effect on the central nervous system or its hallucinogenic effect.
(11) Dispense.— Means the prescribing, administering or delivering of a controlled substance to an ultimate user, by prescription or order for administering it. It includes the process of the compounding, labeling and packaging of a controlled substance for such delivery. The term “dispenser” means the practitioner who so delivers a controlled substance.
(12) Distribute.— Means to deliver, other than by administering or dispensing, a controlled substance. The term “distributor” means a person who so delivers a controlled substance.
(13) Drug.— Means:
(A) Articles recognized in the Official Pharmacopoeia of the United States, in the official Homoeopathic Pharmacopoeia of the United States or in the National Official Formulary, or in a supplement of any of them; and
(B) articles intended to be used in the diagnosis, cure, relief, treatment, or in the prevention of diseases in man or animals; and
(C) articles which are not food intended to modify the structure or function of the body of man or animals, and
(D) articles intended to be used as a component of any article mentioned in clauses (A), (B), or (C) of this subsection; but does not include devices or their components, parts or accessories.
(14) Felony.— Means any offense classified by applicable federal or local laws as a felony.
(15) Manufacture.— Means the production, importation, preparation, propagation, compounding, or processing of a drug or other controlled substance, either directly or indirectly or by extraction from substances of natural origin, or independently by means of chemical synthesis or by a combination of extraction and chemical synthesis, and includes any packaging or repackaging of such substance or labeling of its container; except that such term does not include the preparation, compounding, packaging, or labeling of a drug or other substance in conformity with applicable local laws by a practitioner as an incident to his administration or dispensing of such drug or substance in the course of his professional practice. The term “manufacturer” means a person who manufactures a drug or other substance.
(16) Marihuana.— Means all parts of the plant Cannabis sativa L., whether growing or not; the seeds thereof; the resin extracted from any part of such plant; and every compound, product, salt, derivative, mixture, or preparation of such plant, its seeds or resin. Such term does not include the mature stalks of such plant, fiber produced from such stalks, oil or cake made from the seeds of such plant, any other compound, product, salt, derivative, mixture, or preparation of such mature stalks (except the resin extracted therefrom), fiber, oil, or cake, or the sterilized seed of such plant which is incapable of germination.
(17) Narcotic drug.— Means any of the following, whether produced directly or indirectly by extraction from substances of vegetable origin, or independently by means of chemical synthesis, or by a combination of extraction and chemical synthesis:
(A) Opium, coca leaves, and opiates;
(B) a compound, product, salt, derivative, or preparation of opium, coca leaves, or opiates;
(C) a substance, and any compound, product, salt, derivative, or preparation thereof, which is chemically identical with any of the substances referred to in clauses (A) and (B) of this subsection, except that the words “narcotic drugs” as used hereunder does not include decocainized coca leaves or extracts of coca leaves, which extracts do not contain cocaine or ecgonine.
(18) Opiate.— Means any drug or other substance having an addiction-forming or addiction-sustaining liability similar to morphine or being capable of conversion into a drug having such addiction-forming or addiction-sustaining liability.
(19) Opium poppy.— Means the plant of the species Papaver somniferum L., except the seeds thereof.
(20) Poppy straw.— Means all parts except the seeds, of the opium poppy, after mowing.
(21) Practitioner.— Means a physician, dentist, veterinarian, scientific investigator, pharmacist, pharmacy, hospital, or other person licensed, registered, or otherwise permitted, by the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, to distribute, dispense, conduct research with respect to, administer, or use in teaching or chemical analysis, a controlled substance in the course of professional practice or research in the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico.
(22) Production.— Includes the manufacture, planting, cultivation, growing, or harvesting of a controlled substance.
(23) Immediate precursor.— Means a substance:
(A) Which the Secretary of Health, Education and Welfare of the United States and the Secretary of Health of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico have found to be by regulation designated as being the principal compound used, or produced primarily for use, in the manufacture of a controlled substance;
(B) which is an immediate chemical intermediary used or likely to be used in the manufacture of such controlled substance; and
(C) the control of which is necessary to prevent, curtail, or limit the manufacture of such controlled substance.
(24) Secretary of Health.— Means the Secretary of Health of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico.
(25) Ultimate user.— Means a person who has lawfully obtained and possesses a controlled substance for his own use or for the use of a patient.
There shall be considered as ultimate user the dispenser who prescribes for himself only in those situations the Secretary may establish through regulations.
(26) Prescription.— An original written order issued and signed or electronically generated and transmitted by the prescribing professional in the normal course and legal exercise of his/her profession in Puerto Rico, in order for certain controlled substances to be dispensed in compliance with the provisions of this chapter. It shall be the obligation of the physician issuing the same to comply with the professional responsibility of a true physician-patient relationship.
(27) United States.— Means the states of the North American Union, its territories, the District of Columbia and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico.
(28) Person.— Means a natural or artificial person.
(29) Federal Controlled Substance Act.— Means Title II of the “Comprehensive Drug Abuse Prevention and Control Act of 1970”, Pub. Law, 91-513, approved October 27, 1970.
(30) Prescribing professional.— A medical doctor, dentist, veterinarian or podiatrist, authorized to practice the profession and duly registered in Puerto Rico, who issues and signs or electronically generates and transmits a prescription so that the patient with whom he/she maintains a valid physician-patient relationship may receive a controlled substance, in compliance with the provisions of this chapter.
(31) Electronically generated and transmitted prescription.— Means any electronically generated and transmitted prescription issued by a prescribing professional to a pharmacy freely selected by the patient, through a device that authenticates the electronic signature of the prescribing professional and guarantees the security of transmittal under applicable laws and regulations. For purposes of this chapter, the electronically generated and transmitted prescription shall also be known as an electronic prescription and shall constitute an original order, for which reason, an order with a handwritten signature shall not be necessary. When patients so request, a signed handwritten prescription shall be issued.
(32) Electronic signature.— A cluster of data in electronic format contained in a message, document or transaction attached to or logically associated with such message, document or transaction that may be used to identify the undersigning and indicate that the undersigning approves and recognizes the information contained in the message, document or transaction.
(33) Cannabinoids.— A chemical compound that activates the cannabinoid receptors in the human body and is responsible for the pharmacological effects that are typical of the marijuana plant.
(34) Synthetic cannabinoids.— A group of substances that are structurally related to tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), produced commercially, and tested in a laboratory. This definition shall include any material, compound, mixture, analogue, isomers and salts or preparation of salts of isomers which are possible within the specific chemical designation that contains any amount of the following Synthetic Cannabinoids:
(1) AM-2201
(2) AM-694
(3) C7
(4) C8
(5) CB-25
(6) CB-52
(7) CP47, 497
(8) CP55, 940
(9) HU-210
(10) HU-211
(11) HU-308
(12) HU-331
(13) JWH-015
(14) JWH-018
(15) WIN55-212-3
(16) JWH-019
(17) JWH-073
(18) JWH-081
(19) JWH-133
(20) JWH-200
(21) JWH-203
(22) JWH-210
(23) JWH-250
(24) JWH-251
(25) JWH-398
(26) RCS-4
(27) RCS-8
(28) WINN55, 212-2.
History —June 23, 1971, No. 4, p. 526, § 102; June 22, 1975, No. 52, p. 118, § 1; Aug. 10, 2009, No. 64, § 1; Aug. 4, 2012, No. 154, § 1.