The psychedelic researchers that took issue with five tryptamines being classified as schedule 1 controlled substances will have their chance to present their case this spring.
Some good news today for psychedelics advocates: A judge has granted a hearing for opposition of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency’s proposal to add five more hallucinogenic compounds in schedule I of the Controlled Substances Act.
The regulator announced intent in January to criminalize 4-Hydroxy-N,N-diisopropyltryptamine (4-OH-DiPT), 5-Methoxy-alphamethyltryptamine (5-MeO-AMT), N-Isopropyl-5-Methoxy-N-Methyltryptamine (5-MeO-MiPT), N,N-Diethyl-5-methoxytryptamine (5-MeO-DET), and N,N-Diisopropyltryptamine (DiPT); not just for possession, distribution, import, export or manufacturing, but even research, instructional activities and chemical analysis.
Administrative Law Judge Teresa A. Wallbaum issued an order today declaring a prehearing conference regarding this matter will be conducted by video conference on May 4 at 1 PM ET. In wake of receiving four different requests for a hearing from a mix of psychedelic industry professionals and researchers, Judge Wallbaum ordered that the government file a prehearing statement no later than March 28, and further ordered that each party requesting a hearing file prehearing statements no later than April 27.
A 28-page DEA report — authored in August of 2021, and based on Department of Health and Human Services reviews of these psychedelics from 2012 — states, “These five tryptamines have no known medical use in the United States and are not marketed internationally as approved drug products. They have all been reported as drugs of abuse in the U.S. by law enforcement authorities and identified in seizures.”
The document concludes that these five tryptamines meet requirements for schedule 1 classification because of the following three factors: The drug has a high potential for abuse, the drug has no currently accepted medical use in treatment in the United States, and there is a lack of accepted safety for use of the drug under medical supervision.
As
Psychedelic Spotlight previously reported, Washington State biotech company
Panacea Plant Sciences was the first to formally request a hearing. CEO David Heldreth argued in a six-page oppositional response that, “The attributed risk and dangers are overblown by DEA analysis. Further, the risks named, science cited and data used for this process started in 2008 and much of the cited info is outdated.”
“At the moment hallucinogens/psychedelics are having a revival for their use as medical treatments,” Heldreth wrote. “This is due to the apparent connection between 5-ht2a agonism and the ability to provide long term relief from and treatment of depression, anxiety, addiction, PTSD and other mental health conditions. 5ht2a receptor agonism has been identified as a primary mechanism of medical benefit.”
“As such it is intriguing to see the DEA document in the docket which is entitled
Five Tryptamines Eight-factor Analysis DEA 082021 where one can see the 5ht2a activity and binding levels used as reasons to make these compounds illegal,” the letter continues. “This same activity is precisely why these compounds do, in fact, have medical uses.”.....
, resources etc. Banning potential medicine for the mind...