DEA will formally oppose any rescheduling petition for ibogaine before 2028, citing cardiac liability literature as sufficient scientific basis for continued Schedule I classification.

The DEA (the US agency that controls which drugs are legal) will write an official letter saying no to any attempt to move ibogaine to a less restricted category. They'll point to medical studies showing the drug can damage the heart as their reason. This matters because it locks ibogaine out of legal medical use for years.

DEA's Eight-Factor Analysis explicitly requires safety evaluation. The 2026 cardiac liability literature cluster—QT prolongation, ventricular arrhythmias, 'unrecognized risk' framing—directly satisfies that criterion and provides quotable scientific cover. However, 0.84 is too high: DEA formal opposition requires an actual petition to be filed, and the agency may simply not respond rather than formally oppose. Adjusted downward to reflect this conditionality.