Source · Select Committees · Home Affairs Committee
Recommendation 7
7
Deferred
Paragraph: 30
Urgently move psychedelic drugs to Schedule 2 to facilitate medical research.
Recommendation
We welcome the UK Government’s commitment to reducing barriers to researching psychedelic drugs under Schedule 1 to the 2001 Regulations. Pending the outcomes of the ACMD’s ongoing review of Schedule 1 controlled drugs, we recommend the UK Government urgently moves psychedelic drugs to Schedule 2 in order to facilitate research on the medical or therapeutic value of these drugs.
Government Response Summary
The government defers action on moving psychedelic drugs to Schedule 2, awaiting the ACMD's advice from an ongoing Part 2 review that will consider extending Schedule 2 status for research purposes to all Schedule 1 drugs.
Paragraph Reference:
30
Government Response
Deferred
HM Government
Deferred
The Government awaits the ACMD’s advice, which it will consider carefully before taking a decision. This process is a statutory requirement that must be met before amending the Misuse of Drugs Regulations 2001. In December 2022, the Government responded to Part 1 of the ACMD’s advice on reducing barriers to research with controlled drugs, which focussed on one group of compounds, Synthetic Cannabinoids.7 In the response, the Government formally commissioned the ACMD on its “Part 2” review, which will consider research with Schedule 1 drugs more widely. The Government has asked the ACMD to consider in particular the potential options available to extend Schedule 2 status for research purposes (but not prescribing, outside of a clinical trial) to all Schedule 1 drugs, including so- called psychedelic drugs such as psilocybin and LSD, which has the potential to be a more ambitious approach to reducing barriers to research with controlled drugs. In a further response, the Government proposed that the ACMD consider whether clinical trials authorisation and other forms of ethics approval could form the basis of an exemption from a licensing requirement.