Buprenorphine/Naloxone (Suboxone) is classified as which schedule?

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

Answer: (C)

Scheduling is about balancing medical use with abuse potential. Buprenorphine is a partial opioid agonist, and when combined with naloxone in Suboxone, it has a legitimate medical use for opioid use disorder and a moderate potential for abuse—lower than many Schedule II drugs but more than drugs in Schedule IV. That combination is placed in Schedule III because it fits the level of risk and medical utility defined for that schedule, and the naloxone component is mainly there to deter certain non-oral misuse rather than to change the scheduling. So Suboxone is classified as Schedule III.