Source: Psychedelic Alpha Newsletter
A report on drugs by a cross-party home affairs committee has, among other things, recommended that psychedelic drugs be urgently rescheduled to Schedule 2.
“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.”
(Home Affairs Committee, Drugs – psychedelics are mainly discussed on pages 12 and 13)
These recommendations are the product of the committee’s drugs inquiry, which was opened in February 2022 and published on August 31, 2023.
The psychedelics-related recommendations are a relatively small part of the report, which also suggests a complete review on whether the most commonly controlled drugs are correctly classified.
Timmy Davis, Psilocybin Rescheduling Project Manager at the Conservative Drug Policy Reform Group and Policy Director at the Psilocybin Access Rights campaign, told us that “given the number of times such recommendations have been made, such large-scale reform is an unlikely outcome of the release of this particular report.” Since psychedelic drugs were first controlled, there has been no review of the evidence, he explained.
“That said,” Davis continued, “it is becoming increasingly clear that the appetite for reform within parliament is quickly becoming a reflection of the views of the UK public, who want to see increased access to psychedelic-assisted therapies.”
More broadly still, the committee said that drug policy should be the product of closer collaboration between the Department of Health and Social Care and the Home Office. The report also offers pragmatic recommendations, such as support for ‘consumption rooms’ and a dedicated licensing scheme for drug checking at festivals be established before the summer 2024 festival season.
Davis’ cautious optimism, or realism, is likely well founded. Early signs from the Sunak government look pessimistic: on the topic of consumption rooms, a government spokesperson told the Independent that “there is no safe way to take illegal drugs”.
