The Scheduling

Summary

In 1984, the DEA proposed placing MDMA into Schedule I after learning of its broader distribution. Physicians using MDMA in therapy requested hearings, which were held in three U.S. cities before a DEA administrative law judge. The judge evaluated evidence on safety, medical use, abuse potential, and neurotoxicity, concluding MDMA should be Schedule III, not I. The DEA overruled its own judge and permanently placed MDMA into Schedule I in 1986. Before the hearings, the DEA had imposed emergency scheduling and successfully initiated international scheduling by the WHO, which nonetheless recommended allowing research on the substance.

Study at a glance

Abstract

Abstract After becoming aware of its broader distribution, the DEA announced the possible scheduling of MDMA in 1984. Physicians using MDMA for therapy demanded hearings with respect to the proposed scheduling of MDMA. The DEA was astonished to hear about the therapeutic use of MDMA but nonetheless insisted that it represented a danger to public health and had to be scheduled. Hearings were held in three major cities in the United States in front of a DEA administrative law judge who studied the case and heard witnesses from the DEA and the physicians opposing the scheduling with regard to the five standard questions about the safety and medical use of MDMA, its abuse potential, and possible neurotoxicity. After collecting evidence on the five issues, the DEA judge concluded that MDMA should not be placed into Schedule I, but into Schedule III instead. Nevertheless, the DEA overruled the decision of its own judge and placed MDMA permanently into Schedule I in 1986. In advance of the hearings, the DEA had announced the ‘emergency scheduling’ of MDMA and (successfully) initiated an international scheduling by the World Health Organization (WHO). However, the WHO recommended allowing researchers to study ‘this interesting substance’.