DEA Moves to Add 5 Psychedelic Tryptamines to Schedule I

The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) has announced its intention to place 5 tryptamine hallucinogens in schedule I of the Controlled Substances Act, noting that they “share structural and pharmacological similarities with several schedule I tryptamine hallucinogens” including DMT and psilocyn.

The five tryptamines are as follows:

• 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).

A few weeks ago we covered Field Trip’s lead candidate, FT-104, which is a prodrug of 4-HO-DiPT. Given that this is a prodrug of 4-OH-DiPT, the DEA’s move to schedule the tryptamine may cause problems for Field Trip. At the least, it will “add some paperwork and delays to their efforts in the US,” writes Matt Baggott.

Interestingly, the Federal Register entry announcing the proposal explains that the DEA gathered data on the five tryptamines in 2008, with HHS submitting a scheduling recommendation to the DEA In 2012.

It’s curious, then, that it’s taken nearly ten years for this decision to be made. Could it be a result of the resurgent interest in psychedelic medicine, as evidenced by Field Trip’s FT-104, for example?

“Despite apparent progress, the gears of prohibition continue to grind,” Hamilton Morris wrote on Twitter.

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A note from Editor-at-Large Graham Pechenik on this development

Last Thursday, at a psychedelics workshop co-hosted by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) and the National Institute of Mental Health, NIDA Director Dr. Nora Volkow commented that “with all the attention that the psychedelic drugs have attracted, the train has left the station” and “people are going to start to use” them. Just a day later on January 14th, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) proposed to add five new psychedelic tryptamines (4-HO-DiPT, 5-MeO-AMT, 5-MeO-MiPT, 5-MeO-DET, and DiPT) to Schedule I—based on a 2012 evaluation by Health and Human Services—on grounds that each drug has a high potential for abuse, no currently accepted medical use, and a lack of accepted safety for use.

The decision to put these substances on Schedule I based on a 2012 evaluation that showed little signs of abuse is questionable and troubling. Not only will scheduling make these five tryptamines more difficult to access for research, but DEA’s decision indicates how it may handle other psychedelic compounds with medical and scientific usefulness going forward. DEA’s reasoning sets bad precedent and policy.

Many have reached out with concerns about DEA’s decision to schedule these substances and how it may affect their research. If you have any questions or concerns about DEA’s decision or would be interested in joining a petition for a hearing, please e-mail DEAhearing@calyxlaw.com. We’re working on one now.