- The DEA is a major obstacle to necessary medical research that could help more than 2 billion people globally
- The DEA continues to actively engage in prohibition of drugs it now openly admits have valuable medical uses
- The DEA has no expertise whatsoever to exercise jurisdiction over medical research, or substances with valid research applications
Theater of the Absurd.
Since it was created in 1973, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency has spent nearly 50 years failing spectacularly in the U.S.-driven War on Drugs. The ‘war’ was fought for the specific reason of prohibiting consumption of drugs that (supposedly) “have no accepted medical use”.
A growing mountain of clinical and empirical evidence is proving that many of these drugs do have accepted medical uses. There have been a series of successful court challenges in the U.S. and Canada where governments have been forced to provide legal access to drugs such as cannabis (and psychedelics) – for acceptable medical uses.
DEA continues fighting a lost war
As recently as last week, the DEA was in court fighting to continue its current drug classification on cannabis and obstruct legal access, using the (fraudulent) argument that cannabis has “no currently accepted medical value”.
Now, this inherently dishonest bureaucracy is wanting to take a leading role in the medical research for these same substances – while maintaining the Schedule 1 classification that these substances have no medical uses.
In a notice set to be published in the Federal Register on Thursday, DEA said it is proposing “significant increases” in the manufacturing of “the schedule I substances psilocybin, psilocin, marihuana, and marihuana extract, which are directly related to increased interest by DEA registrants in the use of hallucinogenic controlled substances for research and clinical trial purposes.”
“DEA firmly believes in supporting regulated research of schedule I controlled substances,” it said. “Therefore, the [Aggregate Production Quota] increases reflect the need to fulfill research and development requirements in the production of new drug products, and the study of marijuana effects in particular, as necessary steps toward potential Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval of new drug products.”
“DEA firmly believes in supporting regulated research of schedule I controlled substances,” it said. “Therefore, the [Aggregate Production Quota] increases reflect the need to fulfill research and development requirements in the production of new drug products, and the study of marijuana effects in particular, as necessary steps toward potential Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval of new drug products.”
Obviously, if the DEA wants to “support regulated research” of these drugs for accepted medical uses, first the classification of these drugs needs to be changed – to a non-criminal Schedule that permits the broadest access to research.
Cannabis is non-toxic and not physically addictive. As Psychedelic Stock Watch regularly observes, most psychedelic drugs are also non-toxic and non-addictive. In particular, drugs such as psilocybin, LSD and MDMA have extremely benign safety profiles. Proven safe substances.
This negates the other half of the criteria for a Schedule 1 classification: substances with “a high potential for abuse”.
More than 95% of people who use MDMA recreationally use it less than once a month. Meanwhile, an ongoing Phase III clinical trial using MDMA-assisted therapy for PTSD is providing significant medicinal benefits for ~90% of participants, with two-thirds being effectively cured.
Fraudulent drug laws
Proven accepted medical uses. Near-zero potential for abuse. A Schedule 1 classification for MDMA is a complete legal fraud.
The same with cannabis. The same with psilocybin. The same with LSD.
Even the National Institute on Drug Addiction (NIDA) has publicly confessed that it was wrong about cannabis.
NIDA’s Director, Nora Volkow recently admitted that cannabis legalization has actually resulted in less teenage drug use, not the “increased youth use” that this perennial anti-cannabis mouthpiece predicted would occur with legalization.
Surprise! Surprise! Legalizing safe drugs results in less harm rather than more – because the black market is cut out of the picture.
The “cannabis vaping crisis” resulted in over 2,000 U.S. deaths and hospitalizations from tainted black market cannabis products because cannabis-phobic Congress continues to force Americans to buy most of their cannabis products illegally.
The cannabis is safe. No one has ever died from a cannabis overdose. It’s only criminalizing cannabis that is dangerous.
However, this is only part of the tremendous cost of continuing to criminalize safe and badly needed medicines like cannabis and psychedelics.
The Beckley Institute, a leading institution for both psychedelic drug research and drug reform in the UK recently explained part of this enormous “cost” in continuing to criminalize MDMA.
Why MDMA must be reclassified as a Schedule 2 drug
… despite the progress in research, a gram of clinically made MDMA can cost researchers in the UK £10,000 compared to a street price of £30 to £40.
… despite the progress in research, a gram of clinically made MDMA can cost researchers in the UK £10,000 compared to a street price of £30 to £40.
By keeping MDMA as a Schedule 1 narcotic, researchers are paying ~30,000% more than necessary for MDMA in their research.
Obviously, that enormously drives up drug development costs. Those higher costs are then passed along to consumers and health insurers. Everyone loses.
Beyond that, keeping these drugs as Schedule 1 often makes simply finding a supplier for research purposes difficult. Then there are additional logistical delays and expenses in delivering these drugs because of the punitive and unnecessary laws surrounding them.
Time to end the DEA’s legacy of failure
The Drug Enforcement Agency has accomplished less-than-nothing in its 48 years of existence. Drug use (and drug harm) in the United States from the truly dangerous drugs like synthetic opioids, heroin and cocaine is worse than ever.
Drug overdose deaths in the U.S. soared to a record 90,000+ in 2020 – roughly one dead American every five minutes. That was a 30% year-over-year increase in fatalities.
Psychedelic drugs have inherent anti-addiction properties. Past and current clinical studies are showing amazing potential to cure addictions of everything from opioids to nicotine.
The DEA has saved no one in its 48 years of law enforcement futility. But it’s leading role in obstructing access to necessary medicines like MDMA is killing lots of Americans.
Twenty-two U.S. veterans commit suicide every day due to PTSD because they don’t have access to MDMA-assisted psychotherapy. Two-thirds of veterans currently seeking treatment for PTSD from the Department of Veterans Affairs report no benefit from their treatment.
Suicide is an epidemic in the broader U.S. population as well – and has been going back to at least 2013. Today, one American commits suicide (on average) every 10 minutes.
Most of those suicides are tied to depression. Psilocybin, in particular, is displaying amazing potential in treating depression. And if it was not a Schedule 1 drug, psilocybin would likely already be saving lives.
All this blood is on the DEA’s hands (as well as Congress). And with its multi-billion-dollar annual budget, the DEA has managed to completely waste $100s of billions of taxpayer dollars, in 48 years of doing nothing but harm.
Illegal use of deadly and addictive drugs remains rampant. Badly needed medicines remain illegal. Utter futility, utter failure.
An obsolete bureaucracy tries to justify its continued existence
Now this incompetent bureaucracy, which continues to pursue a fraudulent legal agenda for cannabis and psychedelic drugs – by continuing to argue that they have no medical uses – wants to play a leading role in researching these supposedly non-existent medical uses.
Theater of the Absurd.
As already noted, the complete safety of these substances and accepted medical uses conclusively prove that they do not qualify at all as Schedule 1 narcotics. But if these drugs are all re-scheduled to non-criminal classifications, then this removes much of the DEA’s reason for existence.
The DEA isn’t interested in advancing medical research (for drugs it has spent 48 years demonizing). What it is very interested in doing is preserving the jobs of these incompetent and obsolete bureaucrats.
The DEA knows nothing about the medicinal potential of these drugs. It has spent 48 years wallowing in its own ignorance. Now it wants to direct their medical research.
That’s like the worst student in school failing math class, but then “proposing” that he be allowed to teach the class next year.
No less than the United Nations itself is calling for the immediate decriminalization of all drugs. A complete end to the War on Drugs. A world in which the DEA no longer has any justification at all for existence.
The Drug Enforcement Agency is trying to quietly morph into a Drug Research Agency, while hoping that no one will point out it has zero qualifications for this role.
There are several U.S. departments that could potentially take a leading role in psychedelic drug research. The absolute last bureaucracy that any sane individual would consider for this duty is the DEA.
We need psychedelic drugs. And the world will be much better off once we have secured legal access to these Miracle Drugs.
We don’t need the DEA. And the world will be much better off once this obsolete, incompetent, and incredibly harmful bureaucracy is abolished.