Opinion ID: 1703923
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: failure to comply with statute

Text: Although defendant raises various challenges to the Legislature's delegation to the Board of Pharmacy, the main focus of the defendant's challenge is upon the statutory scheme itself, not upon the recipient agency's exercise of that power. Nonetheless, defendant does briefly argue that the board abused its delegated authority by failing to adopt the federal classification. The federal government scheduled pentazocine as a schedule IV drug on February 19, 1979. [6] 21 CFR 1308.14(f). The Board of Pharmacy promulgated 1979 AC, R 338.3120, designating pentazocine as a schedule 3 drug on April 25, 1979. Defendant argues that § 7204 of the controlled substances act directs the board to similarly control a substance once it receives notice of the federal agency's action. According to defendant, the board's failure to schedule pentazocine as a schedule 4 drug is an unlawful act. However, this argument misperceives the authority delegated in this statute. Section 7204 in its entirety reads: If a substance is designated, rescheduled, or deleted as a controlled substance under federal law and notice thereof is given to the administrator, the administrator shall similarly control the substance under this article after the expiration of 30 days following publication in the federal register of a final order designating a substance as a controlled substance or rescheduling or deleting a substance, unless within that 30-day period, the administrator objects to inclusion, rescheduling, or deletion. In that case, the administrator shall publish the reasons for objection and afford all interested parties an opportunity to be heard. At the conclusion of the hearing, the administrator shall publish a decision, which shall be final unless altered by statute. Upon publication of the objection to inclusion, rescheduling, or deletion under this article by the administrator, control under this article is stayed until the administrator publishes the decision. (Emphasis added.) MCL 333.7204; MSA 14.15(7204). Thus, this statute vests the board with discretion  once the federal government schedules a drug and brings it to the state board's attention, the state agency must take some action regarding the drug. The board may either mirror the federal scheduling or object to that action and provide a hearing for an alternate disposition. Therefore, the Board of Pharmacy is not directed to automatically incorporate the federal action into the Michigan controlled substances act. In fact, three state supreme courts have ruled that provisions requiring automatic incorporation of federal substance classifications represent an unconstitutional delegation of state legislative authority to a federal agency. See State v Rodriguez, 379 So 2d 1084 (La, 1980); State v Johnson, 84 SD 556; 173 NW2d 894 (1970); State v Grinstead, 157 W Va 1001; 206 SE2d 912 (1974). We find therefore that § 7204 does not require the board to adopt the federal agency's decision to classify pentazocine as a schedule 4 substance.