Between 1950 and 1965, approximately 40,000 patients were prescribed a form of LSD therapy, as a treatment for neurosis, schizophrenia and psychopathy. It was even prescribed to children with autism.
However, in the summer of 1967, LSD became viewed as a drug of abuse. It also became closely associated with student riots and anti-war demonstrations and was outlawed by the US federal government in 1968.
A result of a 1968 ruling was a Drug Scheduling system that classifies drugs, substances and chemicals into five distinct categories.
For example, psilocybin, the active chemical in magic mushrooms, is illegal in the US under its scheduling. The drug is currently classified as Schedule I by the Department of Justice. Other Schedule I drugs include raw opium, cannabis, LSD and MDMA. These substances are classified as “a high potential for abuse and serve no legitimate medical purpose in the United States.”
Currently, the only way a substance is downgraded from Schedule I classification is through Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval for medical use. In order to clearly demonstrate that the substance has a legitimate medical purpose, researchers must complete full Phase III clinical trials for a medical condition. This is a barrier so costly, that it inhibits the research required to be completed.
In mid-November, U.S Senator Cory Booker (D-N.J) and U.S Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) introduced the Breakthrough Therapies Act which would enable the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) to transfer breakthrough therapies involving Schedule I substances, such as MDMA and psilocybin from Schedule I to Schedule II.
Changing the scheduling status will facilitate research and development, and a roll-out of these therapies through FDA-approved Expanded Access pilot programmes. Three psychedelic projects from MAPS, Compass Pathways and Usona have been awarded Breakthrough Therapy Status.
President Biden has made progress on decriminalizing marijuana and offering clemency for marijuana possession. Additionally, Biden ordered a review of cannabis as a Schedule I drug.
Rescheduling cannabis would require the DEA and the FDA to reinterpret the drug Scheduling categories, and this interpretation could then also be applied to the psychedelics in these categories. Perhaps the rescheduling of cannabis could be the gateway drug, which opens access to these potentially life-saving therapies.
This article was first published in Nina’s Notes on 7 December 2022 and is republished on Psychedelic Health with permission.
