GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA
SESSION 2025
S 1
SENATE BILL 450
Short Title: Novel Opioid Control Act of 2025. (Public)
Sponsors: Senators McInnis, Lazzara, and Sawyer (Primary Sponsors).
Referred to: Rules and Operations of the Senate
March 25, 2025
*S450 -v-1*
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED 1
AN ACT TO UPDATE THE CONTROLLED SUBSTANC ES ACT. 2
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts: 3
SECTION 1.(a) G.S. 90-89(1) reads as rewritten: 4
"(1) Opiates. – Any of the following opiates or opioids, including the isomers, 5
esters, ethers, salts and salts of isomers, esters, and ethers, unless specifically 6
excepted, or listed in another schedule, whenever the existence of such 7
isomers, esters, ethers, and salts is possible within the specific chemical 8
designation: 9
… 10
rrr. Brorphine. 11
sss. AP-237. 12
ttt. 2-methyl AP-237. 13
uuu. (ortho, meta, or para)-methyl AP-237. 14
vvv. AP-238. 15
www. (ortho, meta, or para)-hydroxy 2-methyl AP-237. 16
xxx. 2-Naphthyl U-47700. 17
yyy. 1-Naphthyl U-47700. 18
zzz. 4-(Trifluoromethyl) U-47700. 19
aaaa. Methoxy U-47700. 20
bbbb. Furanyl UF-17. 21
cccc. Cyclopropyl U-47700. 22
dddd. Phenyl U-47700. 23
eeee. Ethyl U-47700. 24
ffff. (2,3- or 3,4)-difluoro-N,N-didesmethyl U-47700. 25
gggg. (2,3- or 3,4)-difluoro U-49900. 26
hhhh. (2,3- or 3,4)-difluoro-N-desmethyl U-47700. 27
iiii. 4-fluoro U-47931E. 28
jjjj. (2,3- or 3,4)-difluoro U-51754. 29
kkkk. (2,3- or 3,4)-difluoro Isopropyl U-47700. 30
llll. (2,3- or 3,4)-difluoro Propyl U-47700. 31
mmmm. (2,3- or 3,4)-difluoro U-50488. 32
nnnn. (2,3- or 3,4)-difluoro U-48800. 33
oooo. (2,3- or 3,4 or 2,4)-difluoro U-47700. 34
pppp. UF-17. 35
qqqq. U-47109. 36 General Assembly Of North Carolina Session 2025
Page 2 Senate Bill 450-First Edition
rrrr. U-48520. 1
ssss. N,N-didesmethyl U-47700. 2
tttt. U-62066. 3
uuuu. Propyl U-47700. 4
vvvv. (2,3- or 3,4)-Ethylenedioxy U-51754. 5
wwww. 4-phenyl U-51754. 6
xxxx. N-desmethyl U-47700. 7
yyyy. (2,3- or 3,4)-Ethylenedioxy U-47700. 8
zzzz. N-methyl U-47931E. 9
aaaaa. (2,3- or 3,4)-Methylenedioxy U-47700. 10
bbbbb. U-69593. 11
ccccc. U-50488. 12
ddddd. U-48753E. 13
eeeee. U-47931E. 14
fffff. Butonitazene. 15
ggggg. Etodesnitazene (also known as Etonitazepyne). 16
hhhhh. Flunitazene. 17
iiiii. Metodesnitazene. 18
jjjjj. N-Pyrrolidino Etonitazene. 19
kkkkk. Protonitazene." 20
SECTION 1.(b) G.S. 90-89(1a) reads as rewritten: 21
"(1a) Fentanyl derivatives. – Unless specifically excepted, listed in another 22
schedule, or contained within a pharmaceutical product approved by the 23
United States Food and Drug Administration, any compound structurally 24
derived from N-[1-(2-phenylethyl)-4-piperidinyl]-N-phenylpropanamide 25
(Fentanyl) by any substitution on or replacement of the phenethyl group, any 26
substitution on the piperidine ring, any substitution on or replacement of the 27
propanamide group, any substitution on the anilido phenyl group, or any 28
combination of the above unless specifically excepted or listed in another 29
schedule to include their salts, isomers, and salts of isomers. Fentanyl 30
derivatives include, but are not limited to, the following: 31
… 32
f.33
N-(2-fluorophenyl)-N-[1-(2-phenylethyl)-4-piperidinyl]-propana34
mide (also known as 2-fluorofentanyl).(also known as 35
ortho-fluorofentanyl). 36
g.37
N-(3-fluorophenyl)-N-[1-(2-phenylethyl)-4-piperidinyl]-propana38
mide (also known as 3-fluorofentanyl).(also known as 39
meta-fluorofentanyl). 40
h.41
N-(1-phenethylpiperidin-4-yl)-N-phenyltetrahydrofuran-2-carbox42
amide (also known as tetrahydrofuran fentanyl). 43
i.44
N-(4-fluorophenyl)-2-methyl-N-[1-(2-phenylethyl)-4-piperidinyl]45
-propanamid e (also known as 4-fluoroisobutyryl fentanyl, 46
4-FIBF).(also known as 4-fluoroisobutyryl fentanyl). 47
j. N-(4-fluorophenyl)-N-[1-(2-phenylethyl)-4-piperidinyl]-butanamide 48
(also known as 4-fluorobutyryl fentanyl, 4-FBF).(also known as 49
4-fluorobutyryl fentanyl)." 50
SECTION 1.(c) G.S. 90-89 is amended by adding a new subdivision to read: 51 General Assembly Of North Carolina Session 2025
Senate Bill 450-First Edition Page 3
"(1b) Nitazene derivatives. – The N-substituted benzimidazole structural class, 1
including any of the following derivatives, their salts, isomers, or salts of 2
isomers unless specifically utilized as part of the manufacturing process by a 3
commercial industry of a substance or material not intended for human 4
ingestion or consumption, as a prescription administered under medical 5
supervision, or for research at a recognized institution, whenever the existence 6
of these salts, isomers, or salts of isomers is possible within the specific 7
chemical designation or unless specifically excepted or listed in this or another 8
schedule, structurally derived from benzimidazole by substitution at the 9
1-position nitrogen with an ethylamine group, and by substitution at the 10
2-position carbon with a benzyl group, whether or not the compound is further 11
modified in any of the following ways: 12
a. By monoalkyl or dialkyl substitution on the 1'-nitrogen of the 13
1-position ethylamine group, or by inclusion of the nitrogen in a cyclic 14
structure; 15
b. By substitution on the 2'-methylene carbon of the benzyl group by 16
alkyl or carboxamide groups; 17
c. By replacement of the 2'-methylene carbon group with an ethylbenzyl, 18
thiophenol, or methoxybenzene group, which may be further 19
substituted with alkyl, hydroxyl, alkoxy, acetoxy, halide, or sulfide 20
groups; 21
d. By substitution at the 2'-position, 3'-position, or 4'-position of the 22
benzyl group, or both, with alkyl, hydroxyl, alkoxy, acetoxy, halide, 23
or sulfide groups; and 24
e. By replacement of a phenyl hydrogen atom at either the 5-position or 25
6-position of the benzimidazole core with a nitro, or primary amine 26
group." 27
SECTION 1.(d) G.S. 90-89(3)mm. reads as rewritten: 28
"mm. 5-methoxy-N-methyl-N-propyltryptamine 29
5-methoxy-N-methyl-N-isopropyltryptamine (5-MeO-MiPT)." 30
SECTION 1.(e) G.S. 90-89(5)j. reads as rewritten: 31
"j. Substituted cathinones. A compound, other than bupropion, that is 32
structurally derived from 2-amino-1-phenyl-1-propanone by 33
modification in any of the following ways: (i) by substitution in the 34
phenyl ring to any extent with alkyl, alkoxy, alkylenedioxy, haloalkyl, 35
or halide substituents, whether or not further substituted in the phenyl 36
ring by one or more other univalent substituents; (ii) by substitution at 37
the 3-position to any extent; or (iii) by substitution at the nitrogen atom 38
with alkyl, dialkyl, benzyl, cycloalkyl, or methoxybenzyl groups or by 39
inclusion of the nitrogen atom in a cyclic structure. For the purpose of 40
this paragraph, the term "isomer" includes the optical, positional, or 41
geometric isomer." 42
SECTION 1.(f) G.S. 90-89(7) reads as rewritten: 43
"(7) Synthetic cannabinoids. – Any quantity of any synthetic chemical compound 44
that (i) is a cannabinoid receptor agonist and mimics the pharmacological 45
effect of naturally occurring substances or (ii) has a stimulant, depressant, or 46
hallucinogenic effect on the central nervous system that is not listed as a 47
controlled substance in Schedules I through V, and is not an FDA-approved 48
drug. Synthetic cannabinoids include, but are not limited to, the substances 49
listed in sub-subdivisions a. through p. r. of this subdivision and any substance 50
that contains any quantity of their salts, isomers (whether optical, positional, 51 General Assembly Of North Carolina Session 2025
Page 4 Senate Bill 450-First Edition
or geometric), homologues, and salts of isomers and homologues, unless 1
specifically excepted, whenever the existence of these salts, isomers, 2
homologues, and salts of isomers and homologues is possible within the 3
specific chemical designation. The following substances are examples of 4
synthetic cannabinoids and are not intended to be inclusive of the substances 5
included in this Schedule: 6
… 7
n. Indazole carboxaldehydes. Any compound structurally derived from 8
1H-indazole-3-carboxaldehyde or 1H-indazole-2-carboxaldehyde 9
substituted in both of the following ways: 10
… 11
2. At the carbon of the carboxaldehyde by a phenyl, benzyl, 12
naphthyl, adamantyl, cyclopropyl, or propionaldehyde group; 13
whether or not the compound is further modified to any extent 14
in the following ways: (i) substitution to the indazole ring to 15
any extent, (ii) substitution to the phenyl, benzyl, naphthyl, 16
adamantyl, cyclopropyl, or propionaldehyde group to any 17
extent, (iii) a nitrogen heterocyclic analog of the indazole ring, 18
or (iv) a nitrogen heterocyclic analog of the phenyl, benzyl, 19
naphthyl, adamantyl, or cyclopropyl ring. 20
o. Indazole carboxamides. Any compound structurally derived from 21
1H-indazole-3-carboxamide or 1H -indazole-2-carboxamide 22
substituted in both of the following ways: 23
… 24
2. At the nitrogen of the carboxamide by a phenyl, benzyl, 25
naphthyl, adamantyl, cyclopropyl, or propionaldehyde group; 26
whether or not the compound is further modified to any extent 27
in the following ways: (i) substitution to the indazole ring to 28
any extent, (ii) substitution to the phenyl, benzyl, naphthyl, 29
adamantyl, cyclopropyl, or propionaldehyde group to any 30
extent, (iii) a nitrogen heterocyclic analog of the indazole ring, 31
or (iv) a nitrogen heterocyclic analog of the phenyl, benzyl, 32
naphthyl, adamantyl, or cyclopropyl ring. Substances in this 33
class include, but are not limited to: AKB-48, fluoro-AKB-48, 34
APINCACA, AB-PINACA, AB -FUBINACA, 35
ADB-FUBINACA, and ADB-PINACA. 36
…." 37
SECTION 1.(g) G.S. 90-90(2)h1. reads as rewritten: 38
"h1. Fentanyl immediate precursor chemical, 39
4-anilino-N-phenethyl-4-piperidine 40
(ANPP).4-anilino-N-phenethylpiperdine (ANPP)." 41
SECTION 1.(h) G.S. 90-91(k)11. reads as rewritten: 42
"11. Dehydrochlormethyltestosterone,Dehydrochloromethyltestosterone," 43
SECTION 1.(i) G.S. 90-91(k)16. reads as rewritten: 44
"16. Mesterolene,Mesterolone," 45
SECTION 2. This act is effective August 1, 2025, and applies to offenses committed 46
on or after that date. 47