On March 31, 2010, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) issued an interim final rule with comment period allowing practitioners to write prescriptions for controlled substances electronically and permitting pharmacies to receive, dispense, and archive these electronic prescriptions. The DEA lists a number of expected benefits to the rule. First, the policy will give pharmacies, hospitals, and practitioners “the ability to use modern technology for controlled substance prescriptions while maintaining the closed system of controls on controlled substances dispensing.” In addition, the rule is expected to reduce paperwork for DEA registrants who dispense controlled substances and potentially reduce prescription forgery. Moreover, the regulations may reduce prescription errors caused by illegible handwriting and misunderstood oral prescriptions. Finally, the rule is expected to help pharmacies and hospitals integrate prescription records into other medical records more directly, which may increase efficiency and potentially reduce the time patients wait to have their prescriptions filled. While the rule is effective June 1, 2010, comments will be accepted until that date. Note that this rule has been classified as a major rule subject to Congressional review; the DEA will publish a subsequent Federal Register document if the effective date is changed or the rule is withdrawn as a result of the Congressional Review.