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The Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act of 2016 (CARA) amended the Controlled Substances Act (CSA) to temporarily expand the categories of practitioners who may, under certain conditions, dispense a narcotic drug in schedule III, IV, or V for the purpose of maintenance treatment or detoxification treatment.  Specifically, the CARA amended 21 U.S.C. 823(g)(2) to temporarily permit certain nurse practitioners and physician assistants to dispense narcotic drugs without being separately registered as a narcotic treatment program.  Separately, the Department of Health and Human Services, by final rule effective August 8, 2016, increased to 275 the maximum number of patients that a practitioner may treat for opioid use disorder without being separately registered under the CSA for that purpose.  In this rulemaking, the DEA is amending its regulations to incorporate these statutory and regulatory changes.