“The consensus among experts, including psychiatrists, about specific drugs is not consistent or congruent with the schedule of these drugs” in the United States, lead author Adam Levin, MD, third-year psychiatry resident, Ohio State University, Columbus, and affiliate scholar at the Center for Psychedelic Drug Research and Education, Ohio State College of Social Work, told this news organization.
Dr. Adam Levin
Dr. Levin stressed the importance of appropriate drug scheduling to improve access to treatments such as psilocybin (psychedelic mushrooms) and 4-methylenedioxy methamphetamine (MDMA), which are now being tested for psychiatric disorders.
“We are in the middle of a mental health crisis so having any new tools would be really important,” he said.
The survey findings were published online in the International Journal of Drug Policy.
Five drug schedules
The Controlled Substances Act of 1970 created five “schedules” that organized drugs from most to least dangerous (schedule I-V). However, Dr. Levin said that the schedules do not accurately reflect the harms or therapeutic benefits of the various drugs.
Some drugs in lower, less restrictive schedules have greater potential for harm than do those in higher schedules, he noted. For example, methamphetamine, which has been recalled in multiple formulations because of concerns about abuse and limited medical use, remains a schedule II drug.
In addition, several schedule I drugs, including psilocybin and MDMA that are deemed dangerous and of no medical value, have shown therapeutic potential and low rates of misuse, addiction, or physical harm, the investigators noted.
In fact, the Food and Drug Administration has granted breakthrough therapy status to psilocybin for treatment-resistant depression and major depressive disorder (MDD) and to MDMA for posttraumatic stress disorder. This has positioned these drugs for possible FDA approval within the next few years.
Access to schedule I drugs for research purposes is tightly controlled. “Once psilocybin was placed in schedule I, there was this massive drop-off in the research funding and amount of research; and we’re just now starting to understand the potential therapeutic value of this drug,” said Dr. Levin.
Even with a recent research resurgence, most studies are funded by charitable donations or for-profit companies because of continued hesitancy on the part of grant-making organizations, he added.
Apparent contradictions
Given the pending approval of several schedule I drugs and escalating abuse of drugs in lower schedules, there is a growing need to understand physician attitudes surrounding the apparent contradictions in the drug schedule, the investigators noted.
Their survey included a geographically diverse group of 181 mostly middle-aged psychiatrists (65.2% were men) with an average of 16.2 years of practice after residency.
Participants were randomly assigned to respond to a vignette depicting a clinical scenario where a patient wants one of four drugs to help treat severe depression: psilocybin, a schedule I drug; methamphetamine (Desoxyn), a schedule II drug; ketamine, a Schedule III drug; or alprazolam (Xanax), a schedule IV drug.
Each of these therapies has established antidepressant properties, but none are FDA approved for treatment of MDD. However, an intranasal formulation of the ketamine enantiomer Spravato (esketamine) was recently approved for treatment-resistant depression.
There were significant differences among the groups presented with different vignettes. Participants were more likely to warn against repeated use of and development of a new psychiatric problem with methamphetamine and alprazolam compared with psilocybin or ketamine.
Respondents were most concerned about increased suicide risk after the nonprescribed use of alprazolam compared with psilocybin and ketamine.
Compared with all other drugs, ketamine was more likely to be integrated into treatment plans.