Controlled Dangerous Substances (CDS) Registration and Renewals

Renew Registration

Read the registration requirements below before commencing your registration renewal. Applicants can renew their CDS registration up to 60 days before their license expires. The fee for a 3-year renewal is $120. Additional fees for address and name changes are not required at the time of renewal, but you must upload supporting documentation. Application fees are non-refundable.

Federal Establishments

DO NOT begin to renew your CDS registration if you are practicing within a Federal facility or property. Federal establishments, practitioners, researchers, non-Federal employees, consultants, and volunteers that practice within a Federal facility or on Federal property do NOT need to renew their CDS registration.

Begin your registration renewal by entering the information below.

CDS Registration Number:

Establishments/Practitioners: enter last four digits of your Tax ID.
Practitioners: enter last four digits of your Social Security Number.

Tax ID or Last 4 of SSN:

New CDS Registration

Apply for a new CDS registration here. The fee for a 3-year registration is $120. Read the registration requirements below before commencing your registration. For your security, this application will time-out if left unattended for 20 minutes.

DO NOT begin a new registration if you already have a CDS License. See the 'Renew Registration' section to renew your CDS registration.

Note: Federal workers do NOT need to apply for CDS registration.

DO NOT submit a CDS registration if your Establishment has had a change of ownership. For this you will need to download the paper CDS application and check the ‘Change of Ownership’ box in Section 1-B. Mail the completed form to the Office of Controlled Substances Administration. The Change of Ownership fee is $144.

Begin New Registration

Registration Requirements

For new registrations, or registration renewals, you will need:

CDS Registration Number (renewals only — only registrants with an ACTIVE license can renew online). Where can I find my CDS Registration Number? Note: the CDS Registration Number is NOT the same as a PDMP number.
Last four digits of your Social Security Number (Practitioners) or Tax ID Number (Practitioners/Establishments)
Electronic copies of required documentation (view list of required documents for each classification type)
Establishments and Researchers: information to complete the appropriate questionnaires (view sample questionnaires)
Must be registered with the Prescription Drug Monitoring Program (PDMP) (if applicable)
Credit Card to pay renewal fee (approved fee-exempt applicants are not required to pay the fee)

Once you have completed the renewal process, your renewal application will be reviewed by OCSA. After five (5) business days, you may check your application status here. If the OCSA verification website shows a status of ‘PENDING,’ please contact the Office of Controlled Substances Administration at 410-764-2890 for more information.

Notices

Effective December 31, 2020

OCSA will no longer be accepting paper CDS applications for a new registration and renewal registration within the current renewal period. New registrations and renewal registrations may be submitted online (see information at left).

OCSA is accepting paper CDS applications for an address change, name change, change of ownership, replacement/duplicate copy of CDS certificate, and expired renewal registration. Download the paper CDS application and check the appropriate box in Section 1-B. Mail the completed form to the Office of Controlled Substances Administration, 4201 Patterson Avenue, Baltimore, MD 21215.

Effective October 1, 2018

(HB 1452 - “Controlled Dangerous Substances Registration - Authorized Providers - Continuing Education”)
Authorized providers are required to complete 2 Hours of Continuing Education (CE) Relating to Prescribing or Dispensing of Controlled Dangerous Substances prior to receiving the first renewal CDS Registration Certificate that occurs on or after October 1, 2018.

You will not be allowed to continue with the online renewal until you attest to this requirement. This is a one-time requirement. The CE mandate is met after attesting to the completion of the required continuing education.

Click here for more information.

NOTE: this does not apply to Researchers and Establishments.

PDMP Mandate Effective February 15, 2018

All MD Practitioners must register with the Prescription Drug Monitoring Program (PDMP) prior to obtaining a new or renewal CDS Registration. If you believe you are already registered but no longer have access to your confirmation code, contact CRISP (877-952-7477).

Demo

You may wish to view a demo of this service before you begin. Click through screenshots of all the pages, and see all the information you will need to provide to renew your CDS license.

Please note that the screens in this demo show the renewal process for Establishments, but the process for Practitioners is similar. The data displayed in these demo screens is not real, and shows examples of the information required.

View Demo