Felony conviction; employer responsibilities.
21 C.F.R. § 1309.72
in effectEffective: 2024-07-01(a) The registrant shall exercise caution in the consideration of employment of persons who will have access to listed chemicals, who have been convicted of a felony offense relating to controlled substances or listed chemicals, or who have, at any time, had an application for registration with the DEA denied, had a DEA registration revoked, or surrendered a DEA registration for cause. (For purposes of this subsection, the term “for cause” means a surrender in lieu of, or as a consequence of, any Federal or State administrative, civil or criminal action resulting from an investigation of the individual's handling of controlled substances or listed chemicals.) The registrant should be aware of the circumstances regarding the action against the potential employee and the rehabilitative efforts following the action. The registrant shall assess the risks involved in employing such persons, including the potential for action against the registrant pursuant to § 1309.43, If such person is found to have diverted listed chemicals, and, in the event of employment, shall institute procedures to limit the potential for diversion of List I chemicals.
(b) It is the position of DEA that employees who possess, sell, use or divert listed chemicals or controlled substances will subject themselves not only to State or Federal prosecution for any illicit activity, but shall also immediately become the subject of independent action regarding their continued employment. The employer will assess the seriousness of the employee's violation, the position of responsibility held by the employee, past record of employment, etc., in determining whether to suspend, transfer, terminate or take other action against the employee.
Source: eCFRURL: https://www.ecfr.gov/api/versioner/v1/full/2024-07-01/title-21.xmlFetched: 7/26/2026