4-HO-MET (metocin) is a directly active psilocin analogue, unlike prodrugs 4-AcO-DMT or psilocybin — Virginia and South Dakota schedule it by name; Florida bans it by chemical class.
The synthetic tryptamine 4-HO-MET sits in the same gray regulatory category as its better-known relative 4-AcO-DMT: functionally illegal for human consumption across the United States, without being named on the DEA's Schedule I list. At Mind Medicine Law, we examine statutory classifications and the scientific literature across emerging psychedelic compounds to help patients, clinicians, and researchers understand where these molecules stand under federal and state statutes. Also known as metocin, the molecule shares close chemical similarity to psilocin while remaining absent from the explicit scheduling lists published by the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA).
This page does not serve readers looking for a source or a how-to for unregulated chemicals. Readers seeking legally protected psychedelic care should look at the regulated state programs in Oregon or Colorado rather than gray-market research chemicals. This assessment would change if the DEA formally scheduled the substance by name or if a federal court narrowed how the Analogue Act applies to it.
4-HO-MET is a synthetic substituted tryptamine that binds directly to serotonin receptors without requiring metabolic conversion inside the body. Its full chemical name is 4-hydroxy-N-methyl-N-ethyltryptamine. It also goes by 4-OH-MET, metocin, or methylcybin. The compound has a molecular formula of C13H18N2O and a molar mass of 218.3 g/mol, per Wikipedia.
Chemist Alexander Shulgin first synthesized 4-HO-MET in the 1970s and later published its synthesis and activity profile in his 1997 reference book TiHKAL. David Repke and colleagues published the first formal description of the molecule in the scientific literature by 1981. It is the 4-hydroxyl analogue of methylethyltryptamine (MET), and it shares a close chemical structure with psilocin (4-HO-DMT), the compound the body produces when it metabolizes psilocybin mushrooms.
A key distinction separates 4-HO-MET from 4-AcO-DMT and psilocybin. Psilocybin and 4-AcO-DMT are both prodrugs: metabolic enzymes must remove a phosphate or acetyl group to produce psilocin before either one becomes active. 4-HO-MET is directly active in its ingested form and needs no metabolic conversion to act on central nervous system receptors.
A separate compound, 4-AcO-MET, is the acetylated prodrug for 4-HO-MET. When ingested, the body removes its acetyl group to yield 4-HO-MET, the same relationship 4-AcO-DMT has to psilocin.
Federal authorities can treat 4-HO-MET as a controlled-substance analogue under the Controlled Substances Act whenever it is distributed or possessed for human consumption. The DEA has not scheduled 4-HO-MET by name; it has never appeared on the official Schedule I registry.
The Federal Analogue Act (21 U.S.C. §813) treats any chemical "substantially similar" in structure and pharmacological effect to a Schedule I or II substance as Schedule I when intended for human consumption. Because 4-HO-MET is structurally and pharmacologically close to psilocin, which is Schedule I, federal prosecutors can use this statute against distributors and possessors the same way they use it against 4-AcO-DMT.
Two states schedule 4-HO-MET by name, and a third bans it through a broader chemical-class definition:
"Not for human consumption" is not a legal shield. Gray-market research-chemical sites often carry that disclaimer. Federal and state courts routinely disregard it when other evidence, such as packaging, dosing scales, or marketing copy, shows intended ingestion. Check your own state's statute before assuming 4-HO-MET is unregulated where you live, using the state-by-state legal status tool.
Every figure below comes from Alexander Shulgin's own published reports and later user surveys, not from a controlled clinical trial. No research group has run a formal human pharmacokinetic study of 4-HO-MET.
| Parameter | 4-HO-MET (oral) |
|---|---|
| Shulgin's reported dose | 10 to 20 mg |
| Self-reported range (Kjellgren & Soussan, 2011) | 2 to 45 mg or more |
| Onset | 30 minutes or less |
| Total duration | 4 to 6 hours |
| Mechanism | Non-selective serotonin receptor agonist, including 5-HT2A |
Because synthetic powders bought online vary in purity, small milligram differences can meaningfully change the intensity of the experience. Published sources do not separately document a peak-intensity window for 4-HO-MET the way they do for some sibling tryptamines; only onset and total duration are reported. At the molecular level, 4-HO-MET's 5-HT2A binding drives the same perceptual and cognitive effects characteristic of classical psychedelics, mirroring the mechanism behind psilocin and other tryptamines such as N,N-DMT.
All three compounds activate 5-HT2A serotonin receptors, but they differ in whether the body has to convert them first, in legal exposure, and in how far along clinical research is. Psilocybin needs enzymatic dephosphorylation to become psilocin; 4-AcO-DMT needs deacetylation to reach the same psilocin. 4-HO-MET needs neither step: it is active as ingested.
Drug developers have bypassed 4-HO-MET entirely in favor of standardized psilocybin. Compass Pathways, the Usona Institute, and Filament Health have all advanced synthetic or botanical psilocybin into late-stage trials. No sponsor currently runs an FDA-authorized trial of 4-HO-MET.
| Factor | 4-HO-MET | 4-AcO-DMT | Psilocybin |
|---|---|---|---|
| Active molecule | 4-HO-MET itself (directly active) | Psilocin (after deacetylation) | Psilocin (after dephosphorylation) |
| Metabolic requirement | None | Hepatic/serum deacetylation | Enzymatic dephosphorylation |
| Federal legal status | Unscheduled by name; Federal Analogue Act applies | Unscheduled by name; Federal Analogue Act applies | Schedule I |
| Named state scheduling | Virginia, South Dakota (Florida via class ban) | Florida, Georgia, Louisiana | Schedule I in every state's standard schedule |
| FDA clinical trials | None registered | None registered | Active Phase 3 (Compass, Usona, Filament Health) |
| Sourcing | Gray-market research-chemical vendors | Gray-market research-chemical vendors | Clinical trials or licensed OR/CO centers |
Supply chain oversight is the sharpest practical difference. Patients in Oregon or Colorado get lab-tested psilocybin under state regulation. 4-HO-MET exists only inside unregulated international research-chemical supply networks, which carries real purity and dosing risk on top of the legal exposure.
4-HO-MET carries the same class-wide contraindications as other serotonergic 5-HT2A agonists, plus the added risks of an unregulated supply chain.
Chemical misidentification is a real risk across the synthetic tryptamine market. Our own 4-AcO-DMT guide documents that past gray-market batches sold as 4-AcO-DMT have included misidentified 4-HO-MET and 5-MeO-MiPT as contaminants. Because research-chemical sellers operate without mandatory testing, buyers cannot verify a batch's identity, potency, or purity.
4-HO-MET is an unregulated, directly active tryptamine that carries real criminal-liability, cardiovascular/psychiatric, and chemical-purity risk. Federal schedules do not name it, but the Federal Analogue Act treats it as Schedule I whenever the evidence shows intended human ingestion, and Virginia, South Dakota, and Florida each create their own direct criminal exposure.
What is known about 4-HO-MET comes from Shulgin's own reports and user surveys, not a clinical research program. If you are looking for legal, regulated psilocybin access in 2026, see Oregon's Measure 109 service centers and Colorado's Prop 122 healing centers. Verify 4-HO-MET's status in your own state with the state-by-state legal status tool before assuming anything about where it stands.
Not explicitly by name at the federal level — 4-HO-MET is not on the DEA's federal Schedule I list. But the Federal Analogue Act (21 U.S.C. § 813) treats any substance 'substantially similar' to psilocin, which is Schedule I, as Schedule I when intended for human consumption. Virginia (Va. Code § 54.1-3446) and South Dakota (SDCL § 34-20B-14) explicitly schedule 4-HO-MET by name. Florida (Fla. Stat. § 893.03) bans it under a broader substituted-tryptamine class definition, without naming it individually.
No. Both are synthetic tryptamines related to psilocin, but they work differently. 4-AcO-DMT is a prodrug — the body must remove an acetyl group to convert it into psilocin before it becomes active. 4-HO-MET is directly active as ingested and requires no metabolic conversion. A separate compound, 4-AcO-MET, is the acetylated prodrug that converts into 4-HO-MET, mirroring how 4-AcO-DMT relates to psilocin.
No. Unlike 4-AcO-DMT and psilocybin, which are both prodrugs the body converts into psilocin, 4-HO-MET is directly active in its ingested form and needs no metabolic conversion to act on serotonin receptors.
Psilocybin is a naturally occurring prodrug found in psilocybin mushrooms, explicitly Schedule I federally, and the subject of active FDA Phase 3 clinical trials (Compass Pathways, Usona, Filament Health). 4-HO-MET is a synthetic compound, not explicitly scheduled by name federally, directly active rather than a prodrug, and has no FDA-registered clinical research program.
Based on Alexander Shulgin's own reports and later user surveys — not clinical data — onset is 30 minutes or less after oral ingestion, and total duration runs 4 to 6 hours. Published sources do not separately document a peak-intensity window for 4-HO-MET the way they do for some related tryptamines.
No. No FDA-registered clinical trials evaluate 4-HO-MET. Mainstream psychedelic drug development (Compass Pathways, Usona, Filament Health) uses synthetic or botanical psilocybin instead.
4-HO-MET is short for its full chemical name, 4-hydroxy-N-methyl-N-ethyltryptamine. It is also called 4-OH-MET, metocin, or methylcybin. Chemist Alexander Shulgin first synthesized it in the 1970s and published its synthesis and activity profile in his 1997 book TiHKAL. David Repke and colleagues published the first formal scientific description of the compound by 1981. In searches and casual references it's also written without the hyphens, as 4HOMET or 4HO-MET, or shortened to just 4HO.
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