The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) is moving to place a series of psychedelic compounds into the most strictly prohibited list of controlled substances\u2014and advocates and researchers are making clear their opposition to the proposal.<\/p>\n
About 90 people have submitted official feedback to the agency so far after the scheduling proposal was published in the Federal Register last month. The public comment period ends on February 14.<\/p>\n
Advocates and researchers are challenging the logic behind DEA\u2019s planned ban of five tryptamines: 4-OH-DiPT, 5-MeO-AMT, 5-MeO-MiPT, 5-MeO-DET and DiPT. The agency wants to place each of the psychedelic compounds in Schedule I under the Controlled Substances Act (CSA), the same category as drugs like heroin, marijuana and LSD.<\/p>\n
DEA said<\/a> that it took into account research and recommendations from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) which found that \u201cthese substances are being abused for their hallucinogenic properties,\u201d as well as its own eight-factor analyses, before it made the scheduling proposal.<\/p>\n DEA said in last month\u2019s notice that agencies have identified cases of hospitalizations related to the use of two of the tryptamines. It was only able to cite one death where one of the compounds, 5-MeO-AMT, was found in the person\u2019s system, in addition to alcohol and an antidepressant. DEA acknowledged that \u201cit is unclear what role 5-MeO-AMT played in the death.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cBased on consideration of the scientific and medical evaluation and accompanying recommendations of HHS, and on DEA\u2019s consideration of its own eight-factor analysis, DEA finds that these facts and all relevant data constitute substantial evidence of potential for abuse of 4-OH-DiPT, 5-MeO-AMT, 5-MeO-MiPT, 5-MeO-DET, and DiPT. As such, DEA hereby proposes to schedule 4-OH-DiPT, 5-MeO-AMT, 5-MeO-MiPT, 5-MeO-DET, and DiPT as controlled substances under the CSA.\u201d<\/p>\n In general, advocates have been critical<\/a> of DEA scheduling decisions. The fact that cannabis and other entheogenic substance remain Schedule I drugs\u2014meaning the agency determined it has no medical value and a high abuse potential\u2014has particularly called into question DEA\u2019s judgment in these matters.<\/p>\n That position is reflected in the majority of the comments submitted to the agency on the proposal to date.<\/p>\n \u201cActions such as this are completely misguided and actually contribute negatively to the so called war on drugs. If these substances are banned they will be replaced by more and more obscure and convoluted chemicals with even more questionable safety profiles,\u201d one person said<\/a>. \u201cPlease stop and think about the potential ramifications of a decision like this.\u201d<\/p>\n A person who identified themself as a military veteran said<\/a> that he believes \u201cthese compounds should be kept legal so they can be researched.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cReports of psychedelics in therapy are extremely promising for depression, anxiety, addiction, and other mental health disorders like PTSD,\u201d the person said. \u201cAs a veteran that suffers from PTSD, who has many other friends suffering from PTSD, some of whom have committed suicide, I am hopeful that one of these compounds will one day be able to end our suffering for good. But that won\u2019t happen without study and research.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m appalled and frankly disappointed that the US DEA can write these documents about these compounds having abuse potential worthy of Schedule I, while drugs like opioids and methamphetamines are still at a lower scheduling,\u201d one comment<\/a> reads. \u201cThere is scientific evidence that certain tryptamines actually have a reduced abuse potential, especially those similar to psilocin.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThese substances should not be scheduled. It would be a waste of time and my tax money to pursue something that has one documented death with 5-MEO-AMT nearly 18 years ago, mind you the article does not go into detail why this has occurred,\u201d another says<\/a>. \u201cMore people have been killed by shaking vending machines, 37, yet there is no movement to ban soda machines.\u201d<\/p>\n These are just a few examples, but the comments are overwhelmingly against DEA\u2019s proposed scheduling action.<\/p>\n Matt Baggott, a neuroscientist and CEO of the pharmatech company Tactogen, also weighed in on the agency\u2019s proposal. He noted that HHS provided DEA with its analysis of the compounds a decade ago, which \u201craises the question of whether this scheduling is in response to the increased interest in psychedelic medicine.\u201d<\/p>\n Worth noting that HHS provided DEA with an analysis of these compounds in 2012 and DEA failed to act until now. This raises the question of whether this scheduling is in response to the increased interest in psychedelic medicine.<\/p>\n \u2014 Matt Baggott (@mattbagg) January 14, 2022<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n Meanwhile, a Seattle doctor specializing in end-of-life care filed a formal petition with DEA last week<\/a> challenging the government\u2019s Schedule I classification of psilocybin, the main psychoactive component of psychedelic mushrooms.<\/p>\n The petition requests the agency to reschedule psilocybin as a less-restricted Schedule II drug, pointing to its relatively low potential for abuse and \u201cexceptional promise in relieving debilitating symptoms in those with intractable and otherwise untreatable illness,\u201d including the severe anxiety and depression that can result from a terminal illness.<\/p>\n Attorneys for Dr. Sunil Aggarwal filed the federal petition almost immediately following a decision Monday by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit<\/a>\u00a0that dismissed on procedural grounds a lawsuit Aggarwal and two of his terminally ill cancer patients\u00a0filed against DEA last year<\/a>. In that case, plaintiffs argued they should be allowed legal access to psilocybin under state and federal right-to-try laws, which are intended to let patients with terminal conditions try investigational medications that have not been approved for general use.<\/p>\n Separately, a bipartisan group of members of Congress sent a letter last month urging DEA to\u00a0let terminally ill patients have access to psilocybin<\/a>. The agency, lawmakers said, is \u201cobstructing access to psilocybin for therapeutic use consistent with the letter and intent Right to Try (RTT) laws.\u201d<\/p>\n Congress and 41 states have adopted right-to-try laws, which allow\u00a0patients with terminal conditions to try investigational medications<\/a>\u00a0that have not been approved for general use. Lawmakers said that DEA \u201chas failed to abide\u201d by the law.<\/p>\n DEA has increased production quotas for the production<\/a> of certain psychedelics like psilocybin in an effort to promote research, but its scheduling decisions have continued to represent obstacles for scientists. And the agency is currently facing criticism from advocates and researchers over a proposal to place several psychedelic substances in Schedule I under the CSA.<\/p>\n Marijuana Banking Sponsor Says He\u2019s In Amendment Talks With Senate Leader As House Passes Reform For Sixth Time<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n Photo courtesy of Wikimedia<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n The post DEA Faces Backlash Over Proposed Scheduling Of Five Psychedelic Compounds<\/a> appeared first on Marijuana Moment<\/a>.<\/p>\n
The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) is moving to place a series of psychedelic compounds into the most strictly prohibited list of controlled substances\u2014and advocates and researchers are making clear their opposition to the proposal. About 90 people have submitted official feedback to the agency so far after the scheduling proposalContinue Reading<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":458,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"false","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[81],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52770"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/458"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=52770"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52770\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":52771,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52770\/revisions\/52771"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=52770"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=52770"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=52770"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n
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\nRead More: DEA Faces Backlash Over Proposed Scheduling Of Five Psychedelic Compounds<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"