republic-os/legislation/us/states/va/2017/sb-1403.md

---
type: "Bill"
title: "Controlled substances; use of FDA-approved substance upon publication of final rule, etc."
description: "Authorizes the Board of Pharmacy (Board) to designate, deschedule, or reschedule as a controlled substance any substance 30 days after publication in the Federal Register of a final or interim final order or rule designating such substance as a controlled substance or descheduling or rescheduling such substance. Under current law, the Board may act 120 days from such publication date. The bill also provides that a person is immune from prosecution for prescribing, administering, dispensing, or possessing pursuant to a valid prescription a substance approved as a prescription drug by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration on or after July 1, 2017, in accordance with a final or interim final order or rule despite the fact that such substance has not been scheduled by the Board. The immunity provided by the bill remains in effect until the earlier of (i) nine months from the date of the publication of the interim final order or rule or, if published within nine months of the interim final order or rule, the final order or rule or (ii) the substance is scheduled by the Board or by law. This bill is identical to"
jurisdiction: "us/states/va"
legislature: "Virginia General Assembly"
session: "2017"
identifier: "SB 1403"
citation: "Virginia SB 1403 (2017)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["Commissions", "Boards and Institutions Generally", "Narcotics and Drugs"]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Siobhan S. Dunnavant"]
version_count: 5
action_count: 23
vote_count: 6
first_action: "2017-01-11"
last_action: "2017-03-13"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/f8b20672-d6b8-472e-ab4b-f3a77bcedecb"
source_url: "http://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?171+sum+SB1403"
source_hash: "7c4d1837625214015a7c356b339162d3f40da419bdc52b2fce99f6c3239c582e"
vintage: "2026-07-01"
source_snapshot: "https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump"
retrieved_at: "2026-07-06"
confidence: "reported"
tags: ["legislation", "bill", "us-va"]
---

# Virginia SB 1403 (2017) — Controlled substances; use of FDA-approved substance upon publication of final rule, etc.

Authorizes the Board of Pharmacy (Board) to designate, deschedule, or reschedule as a controlled substance any substance 30 days after publication in the Federal Register of a final or interim final order or rule designating such substance as a controlled substance or descheduling or rescheduling such substance. Under current law, the Board may act 120 days from such publication date. The bill also provides that a person is immune from prosecution for prescribing, administering, dispensing, or possessing pursuant to a valid prescription a substance approved as a prescription drug by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration on or after July 1, 2017, in accordance with a final or interim final order or rule despite the fact that such substance has not been scheduled by the Board. The immunity provided by the bill remains in effect until the earlier of (i) nine months from the date of the publication of the interim final order or rule or, if published within nine months of the interim final order or rule, the final order or rule or (ii) the substance is scheduled by the Board or by law. This bill is identical to

## Version chain

The bill's text revisions, in order — the diff chain from filing to enrollment.

1. **Governor: Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP0432)** (committee substitute) — [source](http://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?171+ful+CHAP0432)
2. **House: Committee substitute printed 17105340D-H1** (committee substitute) — [source](http://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?171+ful+SB1403H1)
3. **Senate: Bill text as passed Senate and House (SB1403ER)** (committee substitute) — [source](http://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?171+ful+SB1403ER)
4. **Senate: Committee substitute printed 17104151D-S1** (committee substitute) — [source](http://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?171+ful+SB1403S1)
5. **Senate: Prefiled and ordered printed; offered 01/11/17 17103740D** (committee substitute) — [source](http://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?171+ful+SB1403)

## Votes

- Passed House with substitute BLOCK VOTE — **98–0** (pass) · legislature
- House substitute agreed to by Senate — **39–1** (pass) · legislature
- Reported from Health, Welfare and Institutions with substitute — **21–0** (pass) · legislature
- Reported from Education and Health with substitute — **14–1** (pass) · legislature
- Read third time and passed Senate — **39–1** (pass) · legislature
- Constitutional reading dispensed — **38–0** (pass) · legislature

## Sponsors

- Siobhan S. Dunnavant — primary (person)

## Timeline

The legislative action history — every referral, reading, and vote.

- **2017-01-11** Prefiled and ordered printed; offered 01/11/17 17103740D `introduction`
- **2017-01-11** Referred to Committee on Education and Health `referral-committee`
- **2017-01-16** Assigned Education sub: Health Professions `referral-committee`
- **2017-01-23** Read second time `reading-2`
- **2017-01-23** Reading of substitute waived
- **2017-01-23** Committee substitute agreed to 17104151D-S1
- **2017-01-23** Engrossed by Senate - committee substitute SB1403S1
- **2017-01-31** Placed on Calendar
- **2017-01-31** Read first time `reading-1`
- **2017-01-31** Referred to Committee on Health, Welfare and Institutions `referral-committee`
- **2017-02-10** Read second time `reading-2`
- **2017-02-13** Passed by for the day
- **2017-02-14** Read third time `reading-3`
- **2017-02-14** Committee substitute agreed to 17105340D-H1
- **2017-02-14** Engrossed by House - committee substitute SB1403H1
- **2017-02-14** Passed House with substitute BLOCK VOTE (98-Y 0-N) `passage`
- **2017-02-16** Title replaced 17105340D-H1
- **2017-02-20** Enrolled
- **2017-02-20** Signed by Speaker
- **2017-02-21** Signed by President
- **2017-02-21** Enrolled Bill communicated to Governor on 2/21/17
- **2017-02-21** Governor's Action Deadline Midnight, March 27, 2017
- **2017-03-13** Approved by Governor-Chapter 432 (effective 7/1/17) `executive-signature`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/f8b20672-d6b8-472e-ab4b-f3a77bcedecb`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Virginia legislature records).