2-FDCK is Schedule I: from January's notice to May's order

2-FDCK is now a Schedule I controlled substance under a temporary order that took effect May 22, 2026.

That is the change: from that date, handling 2-fluorodeschloroketamine (2-FDCK) — including its salts, isomers, and salts of isomers — carries the same regulatory controls and administrative, civil, and criminal penalties as any other Schedule I substance [1]. This is a temporary order, not a permanent listing, and it runs until May 22, 2028 [1]. Before this order, the relevant instrument was a notice of intent published January 20, 2026, which announced that DEA meant to schedule 2-FDCK but explicitly could not issue the order before February 19, 2026 [2]. Nothing was prohibited by that notice on its own; the notice was a plan, not a rule. The order issued four months later is what actually changed the law.

If you already have 2-FDCK, handling it — or proposing to handle it — now carries Schedule I controls and sanctions [1].

2-FDCK has turned up in 61 drug seizures across 12 states since 2018, and in biological samples from 3 overdose cases in the US [1]. Preclinical pharmacology data show it has a profile similar to phencyclidine (PCP) and ketamine [1].

Separately, the UN Commission on Narcotic Drugs voted in March 2024 to place 2-FDCK in Schedule II of the 1971 Convention on Psychotropic Substances [1], and HHS raised no objection to this temporary US placement [1].

Procedurally, this is a temporary scheduling order, not a permanent rule.

References

1. Schedules of Controlled Substances: Temporary Placement of 2-Fluorodeschloroketamine in Schedule I — Federal Register
2. Schedules of Controlled Substances: Temporary Placement of 2-Fluorodeschloroketamine in Schedule I — Federal Register