# Scheduling

> Scheduling is placing a substance in a legal category of a drug-control law or treaty, which sets how strictly it is controlled and whether medical use is recognised.

- Canonical: https://genetixbay.com/knowledge/glossary/scheduling.html
- Also written: drug scheduling, drug schedule, schedule I, Schedule 1, controlled substance schedule, rescheduling
- Glossary category: Legal and regulatory
- Status: Draft: awaiting expert review · Updated: 2026-10-31
- Licence: CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/), attribute "GenetixBay cannabis glossary"

Scheduling is the classification of drugs into numbered or lettered categories (schedules) under national law or international treaties. Each schedule carries a level of control: who may produce, prescribe, possess or research the substance, and with what licences and penalties.

## In practice

Cannabis is scheduled at the international level under the [1961 Single Convention](https://genetixbay.com/knowledge/glossary/single-convention-1961.md) and, separately, in national laws. The same plant can be in different schedules in different countries, and countries reschedule over time. In the US, federal scheduling of cannabis has been under formal review. Some laws schedule "marihuana" while excluding [hemp](https://genetixbay.com/knowledge/glossary/hemp.md) below a [THC](https://genetixbay.com/knowledge/glossary/thc.md) threshold, seeds, or mature stalks.

Scheduling does not by itself make something legal or illegal for an individual; it sets the framework that other rules build on.

Rules differ by country, state, province and city, and change often. This is a general definition, not legal advice: check local rules.

## Don't confuse with

- **Legalisation**: creating a lawful supply and use system.
- **Decriminalisation**: changing penalties, not schedules.

## Related terms

[Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs, 1961](https://genetixbay.com/knowledge/glossary/single-convention-1961.md), [Decriminalisation vs legalisation](https://genetixbay.com/knowledge/glossary/decriminalisation.md), [Medical vs adult-use](https://genetixbay.com/knowledge/glossary/medical-vs-adult-use.md), [Hemp](https://genetixbay.com/knowledge/glossary/hemp.md)

## Sources

1. United Nations. 1961. Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs, 1961, as amended by the 1972 Protocol. https://www.unodc.org/unodc/en/treaties/single-convention.html