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DEA’s Final 2023 Drug Research Quotas Boast Major Increases for Psychedelics

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Legislators and psychedelic advocates continue to push the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) to ease access to controlled substances like MDMA and psilocybin. While psychedelic and their associated breakthrough therapies have yet to be rescheduled, it appears the DEA is gearing up for an historic year for psychedelic research.

According to the DEA’s final 2023 production quotas for drugs to be used in research, the agency called for increased manufacturing of psychedelic compounds, even upping the already significant increases it initially proposed for the year, Marijuana Moment reports.

The DEA initially shared the target production goals for 2023 last month, already proposing major increases in the proposed quota for drugs like cannabis, psilocyn, LSD and mescaline compared to this year. After a public comment period, the DEA is expanding some quotas even more. 

The DEA is set to expand quotas for substances including psilocyn, 5-MeO-DMT (distinct from and more powerful than DMT or dimethyltryptamine and the primary active component of the Bufo alvarius toad venom), MDMA, MDA (a synthetic drug with stimulant and psychedelic properties with similarities to LSD and MDMA) and 2-CB (another synthetic drug with psychedelic effects and a similar structure to mescaline, also with similarities to LSD and MDMA).

The DEA initially set the 2023 goal for psilocyn at 8,000 grams, already double the 2022 amount; now, the the agency is thinking even larger, aiming for 12,000 grams of the psychedelic substance found in “magic mushrooms.” The other substances will also see significant increases, some exponentially larger than they have ever been.

The quota for 5-MeO-DMT jumped from an initial 6,000-gram proposition to an 11,000-gram final total, withMDMA similarly jumping from 8,200 grams in the initial DEA proposal to 12,000 grams for 2023. MDA and 2-CB will see the most significant jumps for 2023 production: MD is jumping from 200 to 12,000 grams, while 2-CB is making the leap from just 25 grams to a hefty 5,100-gram quota for next year.

In a DEA notice, the agency said it is committed to “ensuring an adequate and uninterrupted supply of controlled substances in order to meet the estimated legitimate medical, scientific, research, and industrial needs of the U.S., for lawful export requirements, and for the establishment and maintenance of reserve stocks.”

The focus on psychedelics comes as Senators Rand Paul and Cory Booker introduced legislation which would allow for easier access to controlled substances, like psychedelics, that have been designated as “breakthrough therapies” by the FDA. The bipartisan duo have cited the promise psychedelics hold in treating mental health conditions, specifically otherwise treatment-resistant conditions, and are pushing the agency to reschedule some of these substances with their bill, the Breakthrough Therapies Act.

Of course, the DEA has also shared a storied history with cannabis. In turn with its increase in psychedelic research, the agency’s cannabis quota has also increased for 2023. The initial proposal aimed to see 6.7  million grams (14,770 pounds) of cannabis grown next year to meet medical and scientific demands, and the number is unchanged in the new final filing.

That said, it is still more than double the DEA’s final cannabis quote for 2022 (3.2 million grams) and more than triple the amount of 2021 (2 million grams).

President Joe Biden announced he would pardon those with federal offenses for simple cannabis possession in October, additionally calling on Attorney General Merrick Garland and Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Xavier Becerra to “initiate the process of reviewing how marijuana is scheduled under federal law.” 

This has brought a new spark to the ongoing push to deschedule or reschedule cannabis from its current place as a Schedule I substance, deeming it has “no currently accepted medical use and a high potential for abuse.”

Though, this process is much more complicated than, say, passing a bill through Congress. The power ultimately rests with Garland, who is expected to ask HHS officials for their medical and scientific input surrounding the designation of cannabis. Becerra will also need to look to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for input.

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