Newsbrief:
DEA
Wants
to
Schedule
2C-T-7
8/23/02
As part of its never-ending battle against subversive substances, the DEA moved last month to schedule 2C-T-7 (2,5-dimethoxy-4-(n)-propylthiophene-thylamine) as a Schedule I controlled substance -- one with a high danger of abuse and no medical value. 2C-T-7, first synthesized by Dr. Alexander Shulgin in 1981, has in recent years emerged as part of the rave and psychonaut scenes. A hallucinogen, 2C-T-7 produces strong effects in small doses and has been linked to three deaths in the US in the last two years (http://www.erowid.org/chemicals/2ct7/2ct7.html). But the DEA move is not going unchallenged. The Center for Cognitive Liberty & Ethics has submitted written comments to the DEA opposing the agency's intent to schedule the drug, sometimes known as "Blue Mystic," after a brand marketed in the Netherlands in 2000 and 2001. In its comments, CCLE argued that scheduling 2C-T-7 would infringe on cognitive liberty, "the fundamental right of the individual to self-determine his or her mental processes and to engage in multiple modes of thought." CCLE also disputed the agency's finding that 2C-T-7 was subject to "widespread" abuse, a finding that allows the DEA to act on an emergency interim basis. According to CCLE, the DEA relied on Internet postings discussing 2C-T-7 as evidence of widespread abuse, thus equating discussion of using the substance with its abuse. Such a finding chills the First Amendment rights of those discussing the drug, argued CCLE, and discourages the dissemination of health and safety information about drugs. "Placing 2C-T-7 in Schedule I of the Controlled Substances Act will make criminals out of otherwise law-abiding citizens who merely possess the substance, and/or ingest it responsibly to occasion a particular mode of thinking, " wrote CCLE attorney Richard Glen Boire in the comment to the DEA. "Freedom of thought is inextricably linked with the freedom and autonomy of each citizen to self-determine his or her own brain chemistry. By placing 2C-T-7 into Schedule I of the Controlled Substances Act, the fundamental cognitive liberty of peaceful, responsible, and intelligent Americans to modulate their own thinking processes is infringed upon in an overly broad and unconstitutional manner." The CCLE is involved in this and many other projects that impact intellectual autonomy and freedom of thought. Visit http://alchemind.org or http://www.alchemind.org/DLL/2CT7_comments.htm for further info.
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