Is Adderall a controlled substance? Its amphetamine is Schedule II.

The short answer

Yes. Amphetamine is listed in Schedule II at 21 CFR 1308.12(d)(1) with DEA Controlled Substances Code Number 1100. The CFR schedules list substances, not brand names: "Adderall" is a brand name and does not appear in the text of 1308.11 to 1308.15, so this page answers for the substance amphetamine, which the row pairs with that brand.

The statute behind every schedule is Title 21 U.S.C. 812, part of the Controlled Substances Act. The regulation that lists substances one by one is 21 CFR part 1308, sections 1308.11 to 1308.15. This page quotes both. The CFR text was read from the eCFR versioner API for the issue current through October 29, 2026, and the statute from the 2024 U.S. Code edition published on govinfo. This is a classification page only: it contains no dosing, use, acquisition or synthesis information.

The amphetamine entry, quoted

Section 1308.12(d), headed "Stimulants" in the Schedule II section, covers "any material, compound, mixture, or preparation which contains any quantity of the following substances having a stimulant effect on the central nervous system". Item (1) reads "Amphetamine, its salts, optical isomers, and salts of its optical isomers 1100". The words "its salts, optical isomers, and salts of its optical isomers" matter: they extend the listing beyond the bare base compound to the forms the sentence names.

The paragraph has five entries in all: (1) Amphetamine, its salts, optical isomers, and salts of its optical isomers 1100; (2) Methamphetamine, its salts, isomers, and salts of its isomers 1105; (3) Phenmetrazine and its salts 1631; (4) Methylphenidate 1724; (5) Lisdexamfetamine, its salts, isomers, and salts of its isomers 1205. Methamphetamine, methylphenidate and lisdexamfetamine are therefore separate entries with their own code numbers (1105, 1724 and 1205), each also in Schedule II. The statute's initial Schedule II list in 21 U.S.C. 812(c) names amphetamine, phenmetrazine, methamphetamine and methylphenidate.

Brand names versus substances

The opening sentence of 1308.12(a) says Schedule II consists of the drugs and substances "by whatever official name, common or usual name, chemical name, or brand name designated, listed in this section". In practice the section lists substances by chemical or official name. A search of the full text of 1308.11 to 1308.15 for "Adderall" returns no match, so the brand name never appears in the schedules. The schedule attaches to the substance named in the listing, and a product is looked at by what it contains. The exact active ingredients of any specific product are stated on its FDA-approved label, which is the document to read for that purpose (FDA's DailyMed database publishes labels).

What this page leaves out

This page deliberately gives no information on dosing, use, obtaining, or prescribing of any drug. It reports a legal classification and its citation, nothing more. The registration, record-keeping and prescription rules that attach to Schedule II substances sit in other parts of 21 CFR chapter II and were not read for this page, so none are described here.

The Schedule II listing, in the CFR's own words

The lead-in of 21 CFR 1308.12(d) reads:

(d) Stimulants. Unless specifically excepted or unless listed in another schedule, any material, compound, mixture, or preparation which contains any quantity of the following substances having a stimulant effect on the central nervous system:

Entries from Schedule II stimulants at 1308.12(d):

• (1) Amphetamine, its salts, optical isomers, and salts of its optical isomers 1100
• (2) Methamphetamine, its salts, isomers, and salts of its isomers 1105
• (3) Phenmetrazine and its salts 1631
• (4) Methylphenidate 1724
• (5) Lisdexamfetamine, its salts, isomers, and salts of its isomers 1205

What the statute requires for Schedule II

Title 21 U.S.C. 812(b) says a drug or other substance "may not be placed in any schedule unless the findings required for such schedule are made". For Schedule II the findings are: (A) The drug or other substance has a high potential for abuse. (B) The drug or other substance has a currently accepted medical use in treatment in the United States or a currently accepted medical use with severe restrictions. (C) Abuse of the drug or other substances may lead to severe psychological or physical dependence.

Those findings are the statutory test for putting a substance into the schedule. They are not a description of any person's use of a drug, and they are not a medical statement. The CFR sections 1308.11 to 1308.15 then list, substance by substance, what has been placed in each of the five schedules.

How to read and re-check a schedule listing

A schedule entry has a fixed shape. A lead-in sentence says which class of substance follows and often that the listing extends to salts, isomers and salts of isomers. Each line then names a substance and, in most sections, a four-digit DEA Controlled Substances Code Number. The opening paragraph of 1308.11 to 1308.14 says each substance "has been assigned the DEA Controlled Substances Code Number set forth opposite it". The number identifies the line; it is not a rating of risk.

1. Open the section for the schedule you want: 21 CFR 1308.11 (Schedule I), 1308.12 (II), 1308.13 (III), 1308.14 (IV) or 1308.15 (V) in the eCFR.
2. Find the paragraph for the class of substance: opiates, opium derivatives, hallucinogenic substances, depressants, stimulants, narcotic drugs, anabolic steroids and so on, each introduced by a lead-in sentence.
3. Read the entry by its official or chemical name, not by brand name, and note the four-digit DEA Controlled Substances Code Number printed beside it.
4. Check for words such as "unless specifically excepted" or "except" in the lead-in or the line itself, which limit what the entry covers.
5. Confirm the date: the eCFR shows an "as of" date, and the schedules change by rulemaking.

Limits of this page

This page quotes the text of 21 CFR 1308.11 to 1308.15 as published in the eCFR, current through October 29, 2026 (last substantive amendment dates per the eCFR versioner: 1308.11 October 21, 2026, 1308.12 December 21, 2022, 1308.13 April 28, 2026, 1308.14 August 31, 2026, 1308.15 June 1, 2022), and parts of 21 U.S.C. 812. It reports federal classification only. It does not describe any state law, any registration, record-keeping or prescription requirement, any penalty, or any use of a drug, and it does not tell you whether a particular product, person or activity is lawful. The eCFR is an editorial compilation, not the official legal edition of the Federal Register, and the schedules change by rulemaking, so check the current text and DEA before relying on it. Questions about law go to a qualified attorney, and questions about a medicine go to a pharmacist or physician.

Sources

Sources opened and read November 2, 2026.

• eCFR: 21 CFR 1308.12, Schedule II (current through October 29, 2026) (read November 2, 2026)
• eCFR: 21 CFR part 1308, Schedules of controlled substances (current through October 29, 2026) (read November 2, 2026)
• GovInfo: 21 U.S.C. 812, Schedules of controlled substances, United States Code, 2024 Edition (read November 2, 2026)