Stop the DEA from Scheduling DOI & DOC!

SSDP is leading the fight to keep psychedelic research legal.

The DEA wants to add two important research chemicals—2,5-dimethoxy-4-iodoamphetamine (DOI) and 2,5-dimethoxy-4-chloroamphetamine (DOC)—to Schedule I of the Controlled Substances Act, despite decades of safe usage in labs and no history of abuse. DOI and DOC’s current status as unscheduled compounds has made them de facto tools for researchers studying serotonin receptors. They have featured in more than 900 research articles and show promise for pain management, combatting anxiety and depression, and preventing overdose. Scheduling DOI and DOC would create serious impediments to potentially life-saving research, and yet SSDP is the only drug policy organization currently fighting to keep DOI and DOC off the Controlled Substances Act.

In April 2022, the DEA announced their intention to move two psychedelic research chemicals that have been used safely for decades to Schedule I of the Controlled Substances Act—effectively blocking research.

Within weeks, SSDP’s Science Policy Committee—a group of PhD students and other researchers who are fighting back against the War on Drugs with SSDP—leapt into action, demanding a hearing. After extensive legal back-and-forth, the DEA backed down in August 2022, withdrawing their proposal.

Unfortunately, the fight was not over. In December 2023, perhaps imagining the move would be lost amongst the end-of-year holiday season, the DEA again proposed scheduling DOI and DOC. SSDP again demanded a hearing to stop the scheduling, and is currently engaged in a crucial legal battle against the DEA.

The future of psychedelics rests in our hands. Join the fight to keep DOI and DOC legal! SSDP will continue their multi-year effort to prevent the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) from effectively blocking crucial medical research, in an unprecedented ten-day long public hearing that will take place November 12 through 25 at the DEA Headquarters.