AdolescentsDepressive DisordersPTSDMDMA

Effects of Schedule I drug laws on neuroscience research and treatment innovation

This opinion article (2013) provides a scientific perspective on how Schedule I drug laws affect neuroscientific research using controlled substances. It shows how the legal approach to drug control has hindered research into the therapeutic potential of cannabis, stimulants, and psychedelic drugs. Moving these substances from Schedule I to Schedule II would make them more accessible for research. Still, this decision would require approval by a majority of United Nations Member States. However, preclinical research could be performed more quickly if a licensing category was created in the law, especially for scientists who need only small amounts of drugs.

Authors

  • David Nichols

Published

Nature Reviews Neuroscience
meta Study

Abstract

Introduction: Many psychoactive drugs are used recreationally, particularly by young people. This use and its perceived dangers have led to many different classes of drugs being banned under national laws and international conventions. Indeed, the possession of cannabis, 3,4-methylenedioxy-N-methylamphetamine (MDMA; also known as ecstasy) and psychedelics is stringently regulated. An important and unfortunate outcome of the controls placed on these and other psychoactive drugs is that they make research into their mechanisms of action and potential therapeutic uses - for example, in depression and post-traumatic stress disorder - difficult and in many cases almost impossible.

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Research Summary of 'Effects of Schedule I drug laws on neuroscience research and treatment innovation'

Introduction

Nutt and colleagues frame the paper around the mismatch between legal controls on many psychoactive drugs and the scientific evidence about their harms and therapeutic potential. They note that national laws and international conventions—most notably the 1961 and 1971 United Nations treaties—place substances such as cannabis, MDMA and classical psychedelics in the most restrictive categories (Schedule I). The authors argue that these restrictions were often established for political or historical reasons rather than on the basis of modern pharmacology or toxicology, and that the regulatory emphasis on penalisation of possession has itself produced substantial societal harms. This Perspective sets out to describe how Schedule I-style controls impede both basic neuroscience research and clinical development of potential treatments, to give concrete examples of regulatory and logistical barriers, and to suggest legal and policy reforms that might reduce those barriers. The focus is on the consequences for research and innovation rather than on re-evaluating the epidemiology of recreational use per se, with the authors urging the neuroscience community to engage in advocacy for change.

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Study Details

References (11)

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