Control of Immediate Precursor Used in the Illicit Manufacture of Fentanyl as a Schedule II Controlled Substance

The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) is proposing to designate the precursor chemical, 4-anilino-N-phenethyl-4-piperidine (ANPP) as an immediate precursor for the schedule II controlled substance, fentanyl, under the definition set forth in 21 U.S.C. Sec. 802(23). Furthermore, DEA is proposing to control ANPP as a schedule II substance under the Controlled Substances Act (CSA), pursuant to the authority in 21 U.S.C. 811(e), which states that an immediate precursor may be placed in the same schedule as the controlled substance it produces, without the need of addressing the "factors determinative of control" in 21 U.S.C. Sec. 811 or the findings required in 21 U.S.C. 812(b). ANPP is the immediate chemical intermediary in the synthesis process currently used by clandestine laboratory operators for the illicit manufacture of the schedule II controlled substance fentanyl. The distribution of illicitly manufactured fentanyl has caused an unprecedented outbreak of hundreds of fentanyl-related overdoses in the United States in recent months. DEA believes that the control of ANPP as a schedule II controlled substance is necessary to prevent its diversion as an immediate chemical intermediary for the illicit production of fentanyl.