Is heroin a controlled substance? Yes: Schedule I.

The short answer

Yes. Heroin is listed in Schedule I at 21 CFR 1308.11(c)(11) with DEA Controlled Substances Code Number 9200, under the heading "Opium derivatives". The statute's own initial Schedule I list in 21 U.S.C. 812(c) also names heroin.

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 heroin entry, quoted

Paragraph (c) of 1308.11 is headed "Opium derivatives" and covers "any of the following opium derivatives, its salts, isomers, and salts of isomers whenever the existence of such salts, isomers, and salts of isomers is possible within the specific chemical designation". It has 23 items: (1) Acetorphine 9319; (2) Acetyldihydrocodeine 9051; (3) Benzylmorphine 9052; (4) Codeine methylbromide 9070; (5) Codeine-N-Oxide 9053; (6) Cyprenorphine 9054; (7) Desomorphine 9055; (8) Dihydromorphine 9145; (9) Drotebanol 9335; (10) Etorphine 9056; (11) Heroin 9200; (12) Hydromorphinol 9301; (13) Methyldesorphine 9302; (14) Methyldihydromorphine 9304; (15) Morphine methylbromide 9305; (16) Morphine methylsulfonate 9306; (17) Morphine-N-Oxide 9307; (18) Myrophine 9308; (19) Nicocodeine 9309; (20) Nicomorphine 9312; (21) Normorphine 9313; (22) Pholcodine 9314; (23) Thebacon 9315.

Heroin is item (11), "Heroin 9200". Note that the same paragraph lists "Etorphine (except hydrochloride salt) 9056", an example of the exceptions the schedules build into individual lines. Schedule I paragraph (b), "Opiates", is a separate list in the same section.

In the statute too

Section 812(c) of title 21 sets out the initial schedules. Its Schedule I list of opium derivatives (paragraph (b)) includes "(10) Heroin.", so heroin has been in Schedule I since the original schedules rather than having been added by later rulemaking. The eCFR versioner shows 1308.11 last substantively amended on October 21, 2026, but that amendment date concerns other entries in a long section.

What the Schedule I findings are

Under 21 U.S.C. 812(b)(1), a substance may be placed in Schedule I only on three findings: "(A) The drug or other substance has a high potential for abuse. (B) The drug or other substance has no currently accepted medical use in treatment in the United States. (C) There is a lack of accepted safety for use of the drug or other substance under medical supervision." This page records a classification and its citation only. It contains no information on use, sourcing, synthesis, or evasion of any kind.

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

The lead-in of 21 CFR 1308.11(c) reads:

(c) Opium derivatives. Unless specifically excepted or unless listed in another schedule, any of the following opium derivatives, its salts, isomers, and salts of isomers whenever the existence of such salts, isomers, and salts of isomers is possible within the specific chemical designation:

Entries from the items around heroin in 1308.11(c):

• (8) Dihydromorphine 9145
• (9) Drotebanol 9335
• (10) Etorphine 9056
• (11) Heroin 9200
• (12) Hydromorphinol 9301
• (13) Methyldesorphine 9302
• (14) Methyldihydromorphine 9304

What the statute requires for Schedule I

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 I the findings are: (A) The drug or other substance has a high potential for abuse. (B) The drug or other substance has no currently accepted medical use in treatment in the United States. (C) There is a lack of accepted safety for use of the drug or other substance under medical supervision.

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 1308.11, Schedule I (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)