Is Darvocet Considered a Narcotic?
Darvocet and DEA Classification
Controlled substances are drugs (both legal or illegal) that are listed in the Controlled Substances Act. These drugs have the potential to be abused and are subject to specific rules and regulations that are stricter, compared to medications that are not controlled substances.
There are different levels or "schedules" of controlled substances, with Schedule I being the most addictive (and with no recognized medicinal purpose) and Schedule V being the least addictive. Darvocet is classified as a Schedule IV drug. This means that it has less abuse potential compared to a Schedule I, II, or III medication but more compared to a Schedule V medication. Examples of other Schedule IV drugs include many sleep medications (such as
Ambien®) and
anxiety medications (such as
Xanax®).
Is Darvocet a Strong Narcotic?
Propoxyphene, the narcotic in Darvocet, is actually considered to be a weak narcotic. It is chemically similar to
methadone (a very powerful narcotic) but is far less potent. Darvocet is generally considered to be a relatively weak painkiller. However, it should not be viewed as a "harmless" drug. Although it has less abuse potential compared to many other narcotics,
Darvocet abuse is a very real and fairly common problem
(see Darvocet Addiction for more information).
