Is Medicalization the Only Way to Legalize Psilocybin and Ibogaine?

Ismail L. Ali

In the United States, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) regulate and enforce how drugs are researched, marketed, sold, and, in some cases, criminalized. The scheduling framework and varying levels of control over these substances, implemented by FDA and DEA, is apparently based on the substances’ safety for humans, medical value (or lack thereof), and abuse potential. Despite the fact that paltry scientific evidence was presented or sought to justify their criminalization when psychedelic substances were originally outlawed, the only way, besides Congressional intervention, to take them out of Schedule I—the most restrictive category—is to prove to the FDA that they are, in fact, safe for humans to take, have medical value, and are not as prone to abuse as originally asserted... continue reading.