DEA moves to put five more tryptamines in Schedule I

What did the DEA propose?

DEA published a notice of proposed rulemaking on September 23, 2026 that would add five tryptamine hallucinogens, including their salts and isomers, to Schedule I of the federal Controlled Substances Act¹. It appears at 91 FR 60338 (FR Doc. 2026-19400) under DEA docket DEA1715, which Regulations.gov lists as DEA-2026-1585.

If the rule becomes final, the regulatory controls and administrative, civil and criminal sanctions that apply to Schedule I substances would apply to anyone who handles 4-OH-DiPT, 5-MeO-AMT, 5-MeO-MiPT, 5-MeO-DET or DiPT². Because this is formal rulemaking, anyone who wants a hearing has to ask by the comment deadline¹.

DEA leans on its own numbers. The notice counts 518 encounters by U.S. law enforcement in the NFLIS-Drug database (queried April 7, 2026) and 65 poison-center exposure cases from January 1, 2003 to December 31, 2021. None of the single-substance poison-center cases ended in death. The notice does report one 2004 death involving 5-MeO-AMT, in which toxicology also found alcohol and bupropion¹.

This is DEA's second attempt. It first proposed controlling the same five on January 14, 2022 (87 FR 2376), announced a hearing that July, then withdrew both the proposal and the hearing notice on July 27, 2022. It asked the Department of Health and Human Services for an updated evaluation on November 16, 2023. HHS delivered it on April 2, 2026, and DEA updated its own analysis in May 2026¹.

Does it cover the "mushroom" candy sold in California?

No. These five are not the analogues investigators have found in California "mushroom" candy, and the notice doesn't mention those compounds¹.

When the San Diego County Regional Crime Laboratory tested PolkaDot chocolate bars surrendered in 2024, it found 4-Acetoxy-DET and 4-Hydroxy-DET, according to the Sheriff's Department as reported by NBC 7 San Diego⁸. In December 2025 the California Department of Public Health said every TRE House "Magic Mushroom" product it tested contained 4-Acetoxy-DET and most contained 4-Acetoxy-DMT, which it described as "an analogue of psilocin"⁴. Neither list overlaps with the DEA's five.

Psilocin, the active form of psilocybin, is already federally controlled: the notice lists it among tryptamines currently in Schedule I¹. Psilocybin and psilocin are also Schedule I under California law³. The proposal adds controls and loosens none.

Why does it matter in San Diego?

One of the five is already in local research. RE104 (luvesilocin), from Reunion Neuroscience, is a prodrug of 4-OH-DiPT⁷. Two RE104 trials, one for generalized anxiety disorder and one for adjustment disorder in people with cancer or other medical illnesses, list Kadima Neuropsychiatry Institute as a San Diego County site and were recruiting as of October 21, per ClinicalTrials.gov⁵⁶. The DEA notice doesn't mention RE104¹, and we found nothing saying how a final rule would affect those trials.

Schedule I status doesn't end research by itself. Under the proposal, researchers already registered with DEA for another Schedule I substance could keep working with these five if they apply within 90 calendar days after a final rule takes effect; anyone else would need a registration first¹. Our San Diego clinical trials list tracks the RE104 studies and the other 43 trials with a county site.

For readers trying to sort out what's in a gummy or chocolate bar, the takeaway is narrow: this rule targets five specific research chemicals, not the products on smoke-shop shelves. Our guide to mushroom gummies by compound covers what testing has found in those, and California psilocybin penalties covers the state law that already applies.

Comments go through Regulations.gov under docket DEA1715. The electronic system stops accepting them at 11:59 p.m. Eastern on October 23; mailed comments must be postmarked by that date, and hearing requests must be received by then¹.