For example, the anxiety medication Xanax is a Schedule IV drug under the Controlled Substances Act, meaning it is judged to have low potential for misuse and dependence and strong therapeutic value. But the surveyed psychiatrists rated the drug, known generically as alprazolam, as having the highest misuse potential among all of the drugs they were asked about – equivalent to ratings of misuse potential of methamphetamine and alcohol.

The group also rated the psychedelic compound psilocybin as having the lowest misuse potential and the second-highest therapeutic potential behind ketamine. And yet, as a Schedule I drug, psilocybin has no currently accepted medical use and is deemed to pose a high risk for abuse.

“The problem is that our drug schedules don’t match the scientific evidence of their actual harm and their actual therapeutic and abuse potential,” said senior author Alan Davis, assistant professor and director of the Center for Psychedelic Drug Research and Education in The Ohio State University College of Social Work.

Sauce: https://scienceblog.com/533087/psychiatrists-disagree-with-u-s-policy-on-psychoactive-drugs/