21 U.S.C. § 821
Section 821 · Rules and regulations
This is § 301 of the Controlled Substances Act
Amended 3 times on record
Applied in 57 court decisions — leading case Gonzales v. Oregon (2006)
Most recently applied in United States v. Keller (June 2025)
How often courts cite this section
Court decisions citing this, by year.Markers show enactment, consequential amendments, and circuit splits over this section — watch for a citation surge after a change or a disagreement. The dip in the last several years is a data-coverage gap, not a real trend — our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so recent citations are undercounted.
The Attorney General is authorized to promulgate rules and regulations and to charge reasonable fees relating to the registration and control of the manufacture, distribution, and dispensing of controlled substances and to listed chemicals.
Editorial notes U.S. Code · Office of the Law Revision Counsel
Amendments
2004—Pub. L. 108–447 substituted “listed chemicals” for “the registration and control of regulated persons and of regulated transactions”.
1993—Pub. L. 103–200 inserted before period at end “and to the registration and control of regulated persons and of regulated transactions”.
Effective Date of 1993 Amendment
Amendment by Pub. L. 103–200 effective on date that is 120 days after Dec. 17, 1993, see section 11 of Pub. L. 103–200, set out as a note under section 802 of this title.