Is gabapentin a controlled substance?

No. Gabapentin is not a controlled substance under federal law in the United States, and it does not appear on the DEA list of controlled substances dated August 27, 2026. In the United Kingdom the answer is different. Gabapentin has been a Class C drug under the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 and a Schedule 3 drug under the Misuse of Drugs Regulations 2001 since April 1, 2019.

What is gabapentin?

Gabapentin is the generic name of the drug sold as Neurontin. MedlinePlus, the National Library of Medicine's drug information service, says it is in a class of medications called anticonvulsants. The Neurontin label (Viatris, DailyMed, published August 6, 2026) lists two approved uses: management of postherpetic neuralgia in adults, and adjunctive therapy for partial onset seizures in adults and in children 3 years and older with epilepsy.

The label does not describe gabapentin as an opioid or a benzodiazepine. That matters for the legal question. Under 21 U.S.C. 812, federal schedules depend on a drug's potential for abuse, its accepted medical use and its dependence liability, not on the condition it treats. Pregabalin, a related drug, is treated differently in the United States (see Is Lyrica a controlled substance?).

Is gabapentin a controlled substance in the United States?

Not at the federal level. Section 9.1 of the Neurontin label says:

NEURONTIN contains gabapentin, which is not a controlled substance.

A drug becomes federally controlled when it is placed in one of the five schedules of the Controlled Substances Act, which the DEA lists in 21 CFR 1308.11 to 1308.15. Gabapentin is not named in any of those five sections. Because the federal prescription rules in 21 CFR part 1306 apply to scheduled drugs, the refill limits written for Schedules III and IV do not apply to gabapentin. A general explanation of the schedules is on the drug schedules page, and the wider term is explained in what is a controlled substance.

Do any US states control gabapentin?

Some do. The Code of Virginia, section 54.1-3454 (Virginia General Assembly, checked October 6, 2026), includes gabapentin among the substances in state Schedule V. Virginia therefore treats gabapentin as a scheduled drug even though the federal government does not.

We opened no other state's official source for this page, so we name no other state. States can schedule a drug, require prescribers to report it to a monitoring program, or limit quantities. Each state board of pharmacy publishes the rules that apply where you live. If you need the answer for a specific state, that board is the authority, and your pharmacist can usually tell you what applies at the counter.

Is gabapentin a narcotic?

No. In federal law the term "narcotic drug" has a fixed meaning in 21 U.S.C. 802(17): opium, opiates and their derivatives, poppy straw, coca leaves, cocaine, ecgonine, and compounds that contain them. Gabapentin is none of these. The label's section 9.2 also addresses its chemistry:

Gabapentin does not exhibit affinity for benzodiazepine, opioid (mu, delta or kappa), or cannabinoid 1 receptor sites.

People sometimes use "narcotic" as a loose word for any strong prescription medicine. The law does not. For the full definition and how it differs from "opioid", see what is a narcotic and what is an opioid.

What schedule is gabapentin in the UK?

Two statutory instruments made the change, and both came into force on April 1, 2019.

• The Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 (Amendment) Order 2018 (S.I. 2018/1356), made December 12, 2018, added gabapentin to the Class C list in Schedule 2 to the 1971 Act.
• The Misuse of Drugs and Misuse of Drugs (Safe Custody) (Amendment) (England and Wales and Scotland) Regulations 2018 (S.I. 2018/1383), made December 17, 2018, placed gabapentin in Schedule 3 to the Misuse of Drugs Regulations 2001. The same regulations added it to the list of drugs exempt from the Safe Custody Regulations 1973.

The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) notes that a prescription for these drugs must be dispensed within 28 days of being written, and that it is illegal to possess them without a prescription and illegal for a patient to supply or sell them to others. Northern Ireland made matching regulations for 2019. The MHRA says the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs recommended control in 2016 after concerns about misuse, illegal diversion and dependence.

Class C carries the lowest penalty band of the three classes. The government's drugs penalties page gives a maximum of up to 2 years in prison, an unlimited fine or both for possession, and up to 14 years, an unlimited fine or both for supply and production. Exact outcomes depend on the facts of each case. The UK system is explained in UK drug classes and schedules.

So the UK answer to "is gabapentin a controlled drug" is yes, and the US answer is no. The Home Office list of commonly encountered controlled drugs shows gabapentin as Class C, Schedule 3.

Why does the label still discuss abuse and dependence?

A drug that is not scheduled can still carry abuse and dependence language in its label. Section 9.2 says gabapentin misuse and abuse have been reported in the postmarketing setting and the published literature, and that most people described in those reports had a history of polysubstance abuse. It tells prescribers to evaluate patients for a history of drug abuse and to watch for signs of misuse. It also says the abuse potential of gabapentin has not been evaluated in human studies.

Section 9.3 reports that withdrawal symptoms have been observed in some patients after stopping short-term and long-term treatment, usually within 48 hours, and that the dependence potential of gabapentin has not been evaluated in human studies. Questions about stopping or changing a prescribed medicine belong with the prescriber or pharmacist, since the right answer depends on the person and the reason for treatment.

Related pages

• Pregabalin (Lyrica), scheduled in the US and Class C in the UK
• Tramadol, an opioid analgesic with a federal schedule
• Trazodone, which is not controlled in either country
• All drugs with their US schedule and UK class

Questions readers ask