N.Y.
Public Health Law Section 3351
Dispensing for medical use
1.
Controlled substances may be prescribed for, or administered or dispensed to a person with substance use disorder or habitual user:(a)
during emergency medical treatment unrelated to abuse of controlled substances;(b)
who is a bona fide patient suffering from an incurable and fatal disease such as cancer or advanced tuberculosis;(c)
who is aged, infirm, or suffering from serious injury or illness and the withdrawal from controlled substances would endanger the life or impede or inhibit the recovery of such person.2.
Controlled substances may be ordered for use by a person with substance use disorder or habitual user by a practitioner and administered by a practitioner or registered nurse to relieve acute withdrawal symptoms.3.
A practitioner may prescribe, administer, and dispense any schedule III, IV, or V narcotic drug approved by the federal food and drug administration specifically for use in maintenance or detoxification treatment to a person with substance use disorder or habitual user.4.
Methadone, or such other controlled substance designated by the commissioner as appropriate for such use, may be ordered for use of a person with substance use disorder by a practitioner and dispensed or administered by a practitioner or a such practitioner’s designated agent as interim treatment for a person with substance use disorder while arrangements are being made for referral to treatment for such addiction to controlled substances.5.
Methadone, or such other controlled substance designated by the commissioner as appropriate for such use, may be administered to a person with substance use disorder by a practitioner or by a such practitioner’s designated agent acting under the direction and supervision of a practitioner, as part of a regimen designed and intended to withdraw a patient from addiction to controlled substances.6.
Notwithstanding any other law and consistent with federal requirements, methadone, or such other controlled substance designated by the commissioner as appropriate for such use, may be administered or dispensed directly to a person with substance use disorder by a practitioner or by a such practitioner’s designated agent acting under the direction and supervision of a practitioner, as part of a substance use or chemical dependence program approved pursuant to article thirty-two of the mental hygiene law.
Source:
Section 3351 — Dispensing for medical use, https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/laws/PBH/3351 (updated Feb. 20, 2026; accessed Feb. 28, 2026).
