DEA Moves To Boost Production Of Psychedelics To Explore Therapeutic Potential For PTSD And Depression

The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) is proposing to raise the quota
for legal production of multiple psychedelics—including psilocybin,
5-MeO-DMT and methylone—for research purposes in 2026.

In a notice published in the Federal Register on Friday, DEA said it is
moving to boost the quotas for the psychedelics substances so researchers
can study whether they could serve as “potential treatment of conditions
such as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and depression.”

The proposed production goal for psilocybin rose from 30,000 grams this
year to 40,000 grams in 206, while the psilocyn quota increased from 36,000
grams to 48,000 grams.

DEA also evidently sees ample potential for research into lesser-known
psychedelics as well.

For example, it is proposing to nearly triple the quota for 5-MeO-DMT—from
11,000 grams this year to 30,000 grams in 2026.

Just four years ago, in 2021, the agency only called for 35 grams of the
psychedelic. That grew to 2,550 grams in 2022 and 11,000 grams the next
year, where it’s stayed until this latest proposal.

And for methylone, an MDMA-like compound, the increase is even more
dramatic: In 2025, the agency set a goal of 5,200 grams, but in 2026 it
wants 30,000 grams produced.

Like 5-MeO-DMT, the production goal for methylone was minuscule four years
ago, when DEA proposed the manufacturing of just 40 grams of the substance.
The same quota was set in 2022 before increasing to 5,200 grams for each
subsequent year until this latest proposal.

Over recent years, DEA has generally ramped up production goals for
marijuana and certain psychedelics as interest in their therapeutic
potential has grown within the public and scientific community.

The proposed 2026 quotas for cannabis, THC, ibogaine, MDMA, LSD and
mescaline were not adjusted since last year, however.

“These proposed 2026 quotas reflect the quantities that DEA believes are
necessary to meet the estimated medical, scientific, research, and
industrial needs of the United States, lawful export requirements; and the
establishment and maintenance of reserve stocks,” DEA said.

The agency said that, in setting the quotas, it took into account several
factors, including “projected demand for such class as indicated by
procurement quotas,” information obtained by federal health agencies such
as the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and “other factors affecting
medical, scientific, research, and industrial needs in the United States
and lawful export requirements.”

The Controlled Substances Act (CSA) requires the attorney general to set
APQs for Schedule I and Schedule II drugs each year. Notably, that would
mean marijuana would not be part of this annual research production list if
President Donald Trump follows through on a campaign pledge to move
cannabis from Schedule I to Schedule III of the CSA.

DEA said in a notice last month, however, that the rescheduling process
remains stalled, despite the head of agency’s prior commitment to senators
that he would prioritize the issue if confirmed for the role.

Also, earlier this month, a lawyer for DEA faced a grilling by a federal
appeals court over delays in a request for a religious group to use the
psychedelic ayahuasca in their practice—a complaint similar to one that
marijuana reform advocates have vented over decades amid repeated efforts
to end federal cannabis prohibition.

*Photo courtesy of Dick Culbert.*

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