The DEA announced earlier this month that they planned to add five more psychedelic drugs to the Controlled Substance Act, including at least one drug that is showing promise as a treatment for postpartum depression and treatment resistant depression.

The Drug Enforcement Administration has reversed its decision to the scheduling proposal that would have placed five tryptamine hallucinogens, as identified in this proposed rule, in schedule I of the Controlled Substances Act. If finalized, this action would of imposed the regulatory controls and administrative, civil, and criminal sanctions applicable to schedule I controlled substances on persons who handle (manufacture, distribute, reverse distribute, import, export, engage in research, conduct instructional activities or chemical analysis with, or possess), or propose to handle these five specific controlled substances. Despite their medical potential, the DEA wanted to add the drugs to Schedule 1 of the Controlled Substance Act, the most restrictive legal class of drugs that is reserved for substances with a high potential for abuse and no currently accepted medical use.

The five compounds, all tryptamines, are:

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).

These drugs are already illegal when used recreationally for human consumption because of the Federal Analogue Act. The Analogue Act does not prevent American researchers from handling the compounds, so it’s currently relatively easy for American scientists to study these five drugs.