# Opioid Users Found a ‘Miracle Drug’ to Help Them Quit. Then the DEA Banned It

- URL: https://talkfuse.com/story/opioid-users-found-a-miracle-drug-to-help-them-quit-then-the-dea-banned-it/
- Published: 2026-11-03T10:00:00+00:00
- Updated: 2026-11-03T10:31:45+00:00
- Original publisher: Wired
- Original article: https://www.wired.com/story/opioid-users-sr-17018-drug-to-help-them-quit-dea-ban/
- Topics: Health, Medicine

## Key points

- Some users say SR-17018 helped them quit opioid-like drugs.
- Human safety and effectiveness have not been clinically tested.
- The DEA’s Schedule I classification has stalled planned research.

## Summary

Researchers developed SR-17018 as a potential painkiller after studies in mice suggested it could relieve pain without slowing breathing, while also reducing opioid tolerance and withdrawal. Some people who use opioids say they have used it to taper off other substances, but its effects and safety in humans have not been established; the US Drug Enforcement Administration’s decision to classify it as a Schedule I drug has also made planned research harder.

The DEA emergency-scheduled SR-17018 in late August, placing it in the same category as heroin under US law. University of South Florida researcher Laura Bohn says the classification prevents her team from making, shipping or handling the compound for further safety studies. Two former users interviewed in the article described using it to stop taking opioid-like substances, including MGM-15 and 7-OH, but these accounts are personal reports rather than clinical evidence.

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Summarised by TalkFuse (https://talkfuse.com/). Quote the original publisher for the reporting and link this page for the summary and discussion.