Buprenorphine (Buprenex) is classified as which schedule?

• A. Schedule II
• B. Schedule III
• C. Schedule I
• D. Schedule IV

Answer: (B)

Scheduling reflects abuse potential and medical usefulness. Buprenorphine is a partial opioid agonist with legitimate medical indications, and while it has room for misuse, its abuse potential and risk of dependence are lower than those of full opioid agonists. This balance of accepted medical use with moderated abuse risk places buprenorphine in Schedule III. That category is used for substances with medical use and a potential for abuse that is less than Schedule II but greater than Schedule IV. This reasoning applies to Buprenex and to related buprenorphine formulations as well.