The practice of medicine is regulated by state by state regulations. Licensure is to an individual state and is not transferable unless relicense procedure is followed. As such, in most cases, prescriptions written in one state might or might not be accepted in another. This is especially true of controlled substances. Federal law dictates which drugs are listed as federally controlled substances and what guidelines must be followed on a national basis in order to prescribe these. Individual states, however, can place more restrictions on prescribing these drugs as is deemed necessary in that state. For example, some states require a separate drug registration by physicians to prescribe controlled drugs (WY, eg) whereas others, like CA, only require the physician to be licensed as a practitioner and have a DEA number. CA does require class II drugs have a maximum of 30 days and a physical Rx be written after face to face meeting with the doctor. This may be inconvenient for you, but as a physician, yes it is onerous to us as well, but it is a protection for both the patient and physician. There is a lot of Rx drug abuse going on and Rx drugs account for more deaths than illegal ones. I work for an HMO so I am not getting paid by the patient and so the added visit does not add to my income and most doctors would rather forego the added income for convenience, but not for safety.