What a DEA Form 41 requires
DEA Form 41 (Registrant Record of Controlled Substances Destroyed) is the record every DEA registrant keeps when they destroy controlled substances. Here is exactly what a compliant Form 41 needs, before you create an account.
The requirement people miss most
Two authorized witnesses are mandatory
Under 21 CFR 1317.95, the destruction must be witnessed by two authorized employees of the registrant. This is a legal prerequisite, not a preference: a Form 41 cannot be finalized without two distinct witnesses. A third role, the destroyer (the person who performed the destruction), is also recorded, but the destroyer may be one of the two witnesses. The minimum is two distinct people, not three.
If you work solo, plan for this early: you will need a second authorized team member before you can finalize.
The four sections of the form
This is the structure of the official DEA Form 41, shown to explain what you will fill in. It is illustrative, not a completed record.
- Section A: Registrant
- Who is destroying the controlled substances: the registrant's name, DEA registration number, and address. In deaform41 this comes from your saved registrant profile.
- Section B: Substances destroyed
- The itemized list of what was destroyed, split into two parts: B(1) for substances from your own inventory, and B(2) for substances collected from others (e.g. mail-back or take-back). Each item records the substance, strength, form, and quantity.
- Section C: Destruction details
- The date of destruction, the location where it happened, and the method used, which must render the substances non-retrievable (21 CFR 1317.90).
- Section D: Witnesses & destroyer
- The two authorized employees who witnessed the destruction, plus the person who performed it. deaform41 prefills their printed names; they sign the printed form on paper.
Two more rules to know
The method must render substances non-retrievable
Section C's destruction method has to render the controlled substances to a state of non-retrievable (21 CFR 1317.90). At finalization you attest to this explicitly.
Records must be kept for at least 2 years
Disposal records must be maintained for at least 2 years (21 CFR 1304.04(a)). deaform41 guarantees a 2-year retention minimum per finalized record on paid tiers; on Free, you export and keep your own records.
Compliance is never paywalled
Generating the official Form 41 PDF and exporting your own records is free, forever, on every tier. Paid plans add defensibility and convenience on top: wet-signed scan retention, inspector share links, date-range export bundles, and higher volume caps. But the compliance floor is never behind a paywall.
Ready to author your first Form 41?
Creating an account lets you author, finalize, and retain a record. Reading this guidance does not require one.