DEA Revokes Project To Schedule 5 New Psychedelic Compounds

Ending last week, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) finally reversed its project to criminalize 5 new psychedelic substances, as first reported by Microdose. 

Had the agency decided to advance with the proposal, the five tryptamines (4-OH-DiPT, 5-MeO-AMT, 5-MeO-MiPT, 5-MeO-DET and DiPT) would have been moved to Schedule 1 of the Controlled Substances Act, a category reserved for substances considered to behold high potential for abuse and therefore no accepted medical use.

Public comments at the DEA’s public hearing in January and February and additional others following it seem to have enacted enough pressure on the agency, as it has withdrawn its project before the scheduled hearing in August. 

A reduced group composed by therapeutic psychedelics companies, experts and attorneys are responsible for the proposal’s withdrawal and for what will most likely be the agency’s next step: a request to the HHS for a further evaluation of the five tryptamines, and a consequent reconsideration on whether or how to schedule them afterwards.

Read the lead advocates’ comments on the recent decision below.