Vermont Statutes Annotated

Vt. Stat. Ann. tit. 18, § 4201 (2026)

Definitions

✓ current as of May 2026

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Subchapter 001 : REGULATED DRUGS

(Cite as: 18 V.S.A. § 4201)

§ 4201. Definitions

As used in this chapter:

“Professional board” means:

(A) in the case of a dentist, the State Board of Dental Examiners so designated under 26 V.S.A. chapter 12;

(B) in the case of a physician or surgeon, the State Board of Medical Practice so designated under 26 V.S.A. chapter 23;

(C) in the case of an osteopath, the State Board of Osteopathic Examination and Registration so designated under 26 V.S.A. chapter 33;

(D) in the case of a nurse, the Vermont State Board of Nursing so designated under 26 V.S.A. chapter 28;

(E) in the case of a pharmacist or pharmacy, the State Board of Pharmacy so designated under 26 V.S.A. chapter 36;

(F) in the case of a veterinarian, the State Veterinary Board so designated under 26 V.S.A. chapter 44;

(G) in the case of a hospital, laboratory, or nursing home, the Commissioner of Health so designated under chapter 3 of this title.

(2) [Repealed.]

(3) “Board of Pharmacy” means the State Board of Pharmacy so designated under 26 V.S.A. chapter 36.

(4) “Certificate” means a certificate of approval issued to a hospital, laboratory, or nursing home under section 4207 of this title.

(5) “Dentist” means a person authorized by law to practice dentistry in this State and who has a license issued to the person under this chapter authorizing him or her to use regulated drugs in connection with his or her professional practice.

(6) “Depressant or stimulant drug” means:

(A) any drug that contains any quantity of barbituric acid or any of the salts of barbituric acid, or any derivative of barbituric acid, that is designated as habit-forming because of its effect on the central nervous system in the rules adopted by the Department of Health under section 4202 of this title;

(B) any drug, other than methamphetamine, that contains any quantity of amphetamine or any of its optical isomers, any salt or amphetamine or any salt of an optical isomer of amphetamine, that the Department of Health so designates by such rule as habit-forming because of its effect on the central nervous system;

(C) gamma hydroxybutyric acid, including its salts, isomers, or salts of isomers;

(D) gamma butyrolactone, including 4-butyrolactone and gamma hydroxybutyric acid lactone, including its salts, isomers, or salts of isomers, when packaged, marketed, manufactured, or intended for human consumption;

(E) ketamine, including its salts, isomers, or salts of isomers;

(F) flunitrazepam, including its salts, isomers, or salts of isomers; and

(G) any drug, other than methamphetamine, that contains any quantity of a substance that the Department of Health so designates by such rule as having a serious potential for abuse arising out of its effect on the central nervous system.

(7) “Dispense” includes distribute, leave with, give away, dispose of, or deliver.

(8) “Exempt officials” includes officials of the United States, insular possessions, territories, the District of Columbia, state, and political subdivisions.

(9) “Federal drug laws” means the laws of the United States relating to one or more of those drugs which are defined in this chapter as regulated drugs.

(10) “Hallucinogenic drugs” means stramonium, mescaline or peyote, lysergic acid diethylamide, and psilocybin, and all synthetic equivalents of chemicals contained in resinous extractives of Cannabis sativa, or any salts or derivatives or compounds of any preparations or mixtures thereof, and any other substance that is designated as habit-forming or as having a serious potential for abuse arising out of its effect on the central nervous system or its hallucinogenic effect in the rules adopted by the Department of Health under section 4202 of this title.

(11) “Hospital” means an institution for the care and treatment of the sick and injured licensed as a hospital under chapter 43 of this title and a hospital conducted, maintained, and operated by the United States or the State of Vermont, approved under this chapter as proper to be entrusted with the custody and use of regulated drugs under the direction of a physician or dentist, confirmed by an official written order signed by a person authorized to prescribe such drugs.

(12) “Laboratory” means a laboratory approved under this chapter as proper to be entrusted with the custody and use of regulated drugs for scientific and medical purposes and for purposes of instruction.

(13) “License” means a license to practice their profession issued to one of those persons listed in subdivisions (1)(A) through (F) of this section by the person’s respective professional board under the applicable laws of this State, or a license issued by the Department of Health under section 4206 of this title to a person not subject to the jurisdiction of any such professional board.

(14) “Manufacturer” means a person authorized by law to manufacture, bottle, or pack drugs in this State and who has a license issued to the person under this chapter to compound, mix, cultivate, produce, or prepare regulated drugs, but does not include a pharmacy that compounds such drugs to be sold or dispensed on prescriptions at retail.

(15)(A) “Cannabis” means all parts of the plant Cannabis sativa L., except as provided by subdivision (B) of this subdivision (15), whether growing or harvested, and includes:

(i) the seeds of the plant;

(ii) the resin extracted from any part of the plant; and

(iii) any compound, manufacture, salt, derivative, mixture, or preparation of the plant, its seeds, or resin.

(B) “Cannabis” does not include:

(i) the mature stalks of the plant and fiber produced from the stalks;

(ii) oil or cake made from the seeds of the plant;

(iii) any compound, manufacture, salt, derivative, mixture, or preparation of the mature stalks, fiber, oil, or cake;

(iv) the sterilized seed of the plant that is incapable of germination; or

(v) hemp or hemp products, as defined in 6 V.S.A. § 562.

(16) “Narcotic,” “narcotics,” or “narcotic drugs” means opium, coca leaves, pethidine (isonipecaine, meperidine), and opiates or their compound, manufacture, salt, alkaloid, or derivative, and every substance neither chemically nor physically distinguishable from them, and preparations containing such drugs or their derivatives, by whatever trade name identified and 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, as the same are so designated in the rules adopted by the Department of Health under section 4202 of this title.

(17) “Nurse” means any person authorized by law to practice nursing in this State.

(18) “Nursing home” means a facility, other than a hospital, operated for the purpose of providing lodging, board, and nursing care to persons who are sick, have an infirmity or disability, or are convalescing, approved under this chapter as proper to be entrusted with the custody and use of regulated drugs prescribed for such individual patients under its care under the direction of a physician or dentist, confirmed by an official written order signed by a person authorized to prescribe such drugs. No nursing home shall be granted a certificate of approval for the possession and use of such drugs unless such nursing home has a registered nurse or a licensed practical nurse on duty or on call 24 hours daily who will have sole responsibility for those drugs. Nothing in this chapter shall be construed as conferring on any nursing home, convalescent home, or home for the aged any authority, right, or privilege beyond that granted to it by the law under which it is licensed or otherwise authorized to function.

(19) “Official written order” means an order written on a form prescribed for that purpose by the U.S. Commissioner of Narcotics and issued by the U.S. Commissioner of Internal Revenue, under any laws of the United States making provision therefor, if such order forms are authorized and required by federal law, and if no such order form is provided, then on an official form provided for that purpose by the Commissioner of Health.

(20) “Person” includes an individual, partnership, corporation, association, trust, or other institution or entity.

(21) “Pharmacist” means any person authorized by law to practice pharmacy in this State; but nothing in this chapter shall be construed as conferring on a person any authority, right, or privilege that is not granted to him or her by the pharmacy laws of his or her state.

(22) “Pharmacy” means any place registered as such by the Board of Pharmacy in which drugs, prescriptions, or poisons are possessed for the purpose of compounding, dispensing, or retailing, or in which drugs, prescriptions, or poisons are compounded, dispensed, or retailed, or in which such drugs, prescriptions, or poisons are by advertising or otherwise offered for sale at retail and which has a license issued to it under this chapter authorizing the retail dealing of regulated drugs.

(23) “Physician” means a person authorized by law to practice medicine in this State and who has a license issued to the person under this chapter authorizing him or her to use regulated drugs in connection with his or her professional practice.

(24) “Practitioner” includes a physician, dentist, veterinarian, surgeon, or any other person who may be lawfully entitled under this chapter to distribute, dispense, prescribe, or administer regulated drugs to patients.

(25) “Prescribe” means an order for a patient made or given by a practitioner.

(26) “Prescription” means an order for a regulated drug made by a physician, physician assistant, advanced practice registered nurse, dentist, or veterinarian licensed under this chapter to prescribe such a drug which shall be in writing except as otherwise specified in this subdivision. Prescriptions for such drugs shall be made to the order of an individual patient, dated as of the day of issue and signed by the prescriber. The prescription shall bear the full name, address, and date of birth of the patient, or if the patient is an animal, the name and address of the owner of the animal and the species of the animal. Such prescription shall also bear the full name, address, and registry number of the prescriber and, unless electronically prescribed, shall be written with ink, indelible pencil, or typewriter; if typewritten, it shall be signed by the prescriber. A written or typewritten prescription for a controlled substance, as defined in 21 C.F.R. Part 1308, shall contain the quantity of the drug written both in numeric and word form. If a prescription is communicated orally, it shall be reduced promptly to writing by the pharmacist. Nothing in this subdivision is meant to authorize the oral communication of a prescription when a written prescription is otherwise required.

(27) “Registration” means the annual registration of licenses and certificates under this chapter.

(28) “Registry number” means the number assigned under rules adopted by the Department of Health to each person authorized under this chapter to use, prescribe, dispense, possess, or administer a regulated drug in connection with his or her professional practice.

(29) “Regulated drug” means:

(A) a narcotic drug;

(B) a depressant or stimulant drug, other than methamphetamine;

(C) a hallucinogenic drug;

(D) Ecstasy;

(E) cannabis;

(F) methamphetamine; or

(G) xylazine.

(30) “Sale” means transfer for a consideration or barter or exchange or an offer or express or implied promise to transfer for a consideration or barter or exchange, and each such transaction made by any person, whether as principal, proprietor, agent, servant, or employee.

(31) “Veterinarian” means a person authorized by law to practice veterinary medicine in this State and who has a license issued to the person under this chapter authorizing him or her to use regulated drugs in connection with his or her professional practice.

(32) “Veterinary hospital” means an institution equipped with the technical facilities and professional and technical personnel necessary for diagnosis and treatment of animals suffering from sickness or injury and which hospital is further approved under this chapter as proper to be entrusted with the custody and use of regulated drugs which may be used only by veterinarians in their professional practice at that hospital.

(33) “Wholesaler” means a person authorized by law, when so required, to sell at wholesale drugs in this State and further has a license issued to the person under this chapter to supply others than consumers with drugs or preparations containing a regulated drug that the person has not produced or prepared.

(34) “Deliver” means the actual, constructive, or attempted transfer or prescription of a regulated drug, whether or not there exists an agency relationship.

(35) “Cocaine” means coca leaves except coca leaves and extracts of coca leaves from which cocaine, ecgonine, and derivatives of ecgonine or their salts have been removed; cocaine, its salts, optical and geometric isomers, and salts of isomers; ecgonine, its derivatives, their salts, isomers, and salts of isomers; or any compound, mixture, or preparation which contains any quantity of any of the substances referred to in this subdivision.

(36) “Heroin” includes every substance not chemically or physically distinguishable from it and preparations containing heroin or its derivatives, by whatever name identified and 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, as designated by the Department of Health by rule.

(37) “Lysergic acid diethylamide” includes any salts or derivatives or compounds of any preparations or mixtures of lysergic acid diethylamide or any preparation, mixture, or compound containing any lysergic acid diethylamide.

(38) “Ecstasy” means 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine, including its salts, isomers, or salts of isomers.

(39) “Methamphetamine” includes any quantity of the substance, its salt, isomers, salts of isomers, optical isomers, and salts of its optical isomers.

(40) [Repealed.]

(41) “Prescription drug” means any human drug required by federal law or regulation to be dispensed only by a prescription, including finished dosage forms and active ingredients subject to Section 503(b) of the federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act.

(42) “Ultimate user” means a patient who uses a prescription drug.

(43) “Immature cannabis plant” means a female cannabis plant that has not flowered and that does not have buds that may be observed by visual examination.

(44) “Mature cannabis plant” means a female cannabis plant that has flowered and that has buds that may be observed by visual examination.

(45) “Approved drug-checking service provider” means a provider who complies with operating guidelines developed by the Department of Health pursuant to section 4240a of this title.

(46) “Benchmark unlawful dosage” means the maximum recommended therapeutic dose, or maximum daily dose, as determined by the Department by rule.

(47) “Drug-checking” means the testing of a substance to determine its chemical composition or assist in determining whether the substance contains contaminants, toxic substances, or hazardous compounds.

(48) “Fentanyl” means any quantity of fentanyl, including any compound, mixture, or preparation including salts, isomers, or salts of isomers containing fentanyl. “Fentanyl” also means fentanyl-related substances as defined in rules adopted by the Department of Health pursuant to section 4202 of this title.

(49) “Xylazine” means any compound, mixture, or preparation including salts, isomers, or salts of isomers containing N-(2,6- dimethylphenyl)-5,6-dihydro-4H-1,3-thiazin-2-amine. (Added 1967, No. 343 (Adj. Sess.), § 1, eff. March 23, 1968; amended 1975, No. 10, § 1, eff. 30 days from March 10, 1975; 1989, No. 100, §§ 10, 11; 2001, No. 52, § 2; 2003, No. 54, § 3; 2011, No. 27, § 1; 2013, No. 75, § 2; 2013, No. 84, § 2, eff. June 10, 2013; 2013, No. 96 (Adj. Sess.), § 97; 2013, No. 138 (Adj. Sess.), § 9; 2017, No. 86 (Adj. Sess.), § 2; 2017, No. 113 (Adj. Sess.), § 75; 2023, No. 53, § 101, eff. June 8, 2023; 2023, No. 22, § 11, eff. May 25, 2023; 2023, No. 161 (Adj. Sess.), § 56, eff. June 6, 2024; 2023, No. 125 (Adj. Sess.), § 13, eff. July 1, 2024.)

Notes of Decisions

Cited in 11 cases (1 in the last 5 years), 1978–2021 · leading case: Sandra Baird & Jared Carter, 2016 VT 6 (Vt. 2016).

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Sandra Baird & Jared Carter, 2016 VT 6 (Vt. 2016). · cites it 2× “See 18 V.S.A. § 4201(29) (defining “regulated drug”); 18 V.”

State v. Connarn, 413 A.2d 812 (Vt. 1980). · cites it 5× “§ 4202 authorizes the State Board of Health to adopt regulations classifying drugs as “regulated drugs” within the definition of 18 V.S.A. § 4201(29), and “depressant or stimulant drugs” within the definition of 18 V.”

State v. McAllister, 2008 VT 3 (Vt. 2008). · cites it 2× “18 V.S.A. § 4201(29). ¶ 17. There are two types of evidence in every case from which a jury may find the truth.”

State v. Bressette, 388 A.2d 395 (Vt. 1978). · cites it 2× “The parties have focused their appellate attention upon the definition of “sale” contained in 18 V.S.A. § 4201 (30), and applicable to § 4224(g), under which the information here was brought.”

State v. Thomas, 565 A.2d 1335 (Vt. 1989). · cites it 4× “Defendant next argues that the State failed to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the substance found in his possession was a regulated narcotic drug as defined in 18 V.S.A. § 4201(16), because its witness did not testify to the precise chemical composition of the substance…”

State v. Francis, 568 A.2d 389 (Vt. 1989). · cites it 2× ““Dispense” is defined in 18 V.S.A. § 4201(7) as including “distribute, leave with, give away, dispose of, or deliver.”

Ritchie v. State of Vermont (Vt. Super. Ct. 2021). · cites it 2× “§ 1200(2)(a) (defining “drug” to include regulated drugs listed at 18 V.S.A. § 4201); 18 V.S.A. § 4201(29)(E) (defining “regulated drug” to include “marijuana”).”

Abrell v. Dep't of Motor Vehs. (Vt. Super. Ct. 2015). · cites it 2× “§ 1200(2) (defining “drug” to include regulated drugs under 18 V.S.A. § 4201); 18 V.S.A. § 4201(15) (defining marijuana to be such a regulated drug).”

State v. Henry Nash (Vt. Super. Ct. 2019). “See 18 V.S.A. § 4201(29) (defining “regulated drug” as narcotics, depressants or stimulants, hallucinogens, ecstasy, marijuana, or methamphetamine).”

State v. James King (Vt. 2015). “” The penalty that results for possession of differing amounts of marijuana is separate from the question of whether marijuana is a regulated drug. The State was not required to prove that defendant’s possession was criminal, merely that the substance he possessed was a…”

State v. Metivier, 596 A.2d 352 (Vt. 1991). “The crux of defendant’s argument is that pursuant to the clear language of 18 V.S.A. § 4201(16) only substances designated as narcotic drugs by regulations adopted by the Board of Health are narcotic drugs and that because the State did not introduce the regulations adopted by…”

— Vt. Stat. Ann. tit. 18, § 4201(15) — 1 case

Abrell v. Dep't of Motor Vehs. (Vt. Super. Ct. 2015). “§ 1200(2) (defining “drug” to include regulated drugs under 18 V.S.A. § 4201); 18 V.S.A. § 4201(15) (defining marijuana to be such a regulated drug).”

— Vt. Stat. Ann. tit. 18, § 4201(16) — 2 cases

State v. Thomas, 565 A.2d 1335 (Vt. 1989). “Defendant next argues that the State failed to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the substance found in his possession was a regulated narcotic drug as defined in 18 V.S.A. § 4201(16), because its witness did not testify to the precise chemical composition of the substance…”

— Vt. Stat. Ann. tit. 18, § 4201(29) — 4 cases

Sandra Baird & Jared Carter, 2016 VT 6 (Vt. 2016). “See 18 V.S.A. § 4201(29) (defining “regulated drug”); 18 V.”

State v. Connarn, 413 A.2d 812 (Vt. 1980). “§ 4202 authorizes the State Board of Health to adopt regulations classifying drugs as “regulated drugs” within the definition of 18 V.S.A. § 4201(29), and “depressant or stimulant drugs” within the definition of 18 V.”

State v. McAllister, 2008 VT 3 (Vt. 2008). “18 V.S.A. § 4201(29). ¶ 17. There are two types of evidence in every case from which a jury may find the truth.”

— Vt. Stat. Ann. tit. 18, § 4201(29)(A) — 1 case

State v. McAllister, 2008 VT 3 (Vt. 2008). “18 V.S.A. § 4201(29). ¶ 17. There are two types of evidence in every case from which a jury may find the truth.”

— Vt. Stat. Ann. tit. 18, § 4201(29)(E) — 2 cases

Ritchie v. State of Vermont (Vt. Super. Ct. 2021). “§ 1200(2)(a) (defining “drug” to include regulated drugs listed at 18 V.S.A. § 4201); 18 V.S.A. § 4201(29)(E) (defining “regulated drug” to include “marijuana”).”

— Vt. Stat. Ann. tit. 18, § 4201(6) — 1 case

— Vt. Stat. Ann. tit. 18, § 4201(7) — 1 case

State v. Francis, 568 A.2d 389 (Vt. 1989). ““Dispense” is defined in 18 V.S.A. § 4201(7) as including “distribute, leave with, give away, dispose of, or deliver.”

— Vt. Stat. Ann. tit. 18, § 4201(80) — 1 case

State v. Bressette, 388 A.2d 395 (Vt. 1978). “The parties have focused their appellate attention upon the definition of “sale” contained in 18 V.S.A. § 4201 (30), and applicable to § 4224(g), under which the information here was brought.”

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