5-MAPB Legal Status and Pharmacology

5-MAPB is not listed by name in the August 2026 federal schedules of controlled substances, but it is not necessarily legal to manufacture, sell, buy, or possess for human use. The Drug Enforcement Administration explains that an unlisted chemical can still be treated as a controlled substance under federal law, specifically through the Federal Analogue Act when intended for human consumption. Whether any particular case involving 5-MAPB satisfies those federal statutory requirements is decided case by case in court.

At The Psychedelic Journal, we reviewed the Drug Enforcement Administration controlled substance lists and published papers to clarify where 5-MAPB stands under federal law as of October 18, 2026. 5-MAPB, an abbreviation for 5-(2-methylaminopropyl)benzofuran, is a novel psychoactive substance structurally related to MDMA. The published research on 5-MAPB consists entirely of laboratory, computational, and animal investigations, with no human clinical trials appearing in the reviewed scientific literature.

Is 5-MAPB Illegal in the United States?

5-MAPB is not explicitly scheduled by name under federal law, but that absence from official schedules does not establish that it is legal to make, distribute, or possess. In the August 2026 edition of the Drug Enforcement Administration Diversion Control Division lists of scheduling actions, controlled substances, and regulated chemicals, known as the Orange Book, neither 5-MAPB nor its formal chemical name 5-(2-methylaminopropyl)benzofuran appears anywhere in the schedules. By contrast, MDMA (3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine) is explicitly scheduled under Schedule I.

The Drug Enforcement Administration provides an explicit warning in the foreword of its August 2026 publication regarding unlisted substances. The agency explains that its published lists describe basic or parent chemicals and do not comprehensively describe every salt, isomer, salt of an isomer, ester, ether, or derivative that may be controlled. The agency directly states that these are not comprehensive lists, so a substance need not be listed as a controlled substance to be treated as a scheduled substance for criminal prosecution. The federal lists alone therefore support neither a determination that 5-MAPB is legal nor a finding that it is an explicitly listed Schedule I drug.

Individuals or commercial entities seeking formal verification of a compound regulatory status can seek administrative clarification directly from the federal government. The Drug Enforcement Administration foreword notes that outside parties who want to ensure that a compound is not considered a scheduled substance or listed chemical should write to the Drug Enforcement Administration, Drug and Chemical Evaluation Section, Diversion Control Division, for an official determination. This site has not requested or received any such official administrative determination for 5-MAPB. To examine federal policy across other compounds, you can read our guide on what psychedelics are legal in the US.

How the Federal Analogue Act Applies to an Unlisted Compound

Federal prosecutors can regulate unlisted chemicals using the Federal Analogue Act. According to the foreword of the Drug Enforcement Administration Orange Book, a controlled substance analogue is an unlisted substance intended for human consumption that meets specific statutory requirements. The foreword outlines that an analogue must be structurally substantially similar to a Schedule I or Schedule II substance, pharmacologically substantially similar to one or represented as being similar to one, and not an approved medication in the United States.

The statutory definition of a controlled substance analogue is codified in federal law at 21 U.S.C. § 802(32)(A), while the DEA foreword points to 21 U.S.C. § 813. Whether a specific prosecution involving an unlisted chemical meets that multi-part legal test is evaluated and decided case by case in federal court.

Our review found no published court ruling, published Drug Enforcement Administration determination, or official judicial precedent deciding whether 5-MAPB specifically qualifies as a controlled substance analogue under federal law. This page does not predict how a court would rule on that statutory question. For another compound whose federal status we cover separately, see our guide to 4-PrO-DMT. For further background on federal scheduling structures, see our overview of legal psychedelics in the US.

What 5-MAPB Is in Chemistry and Research

5-MAPB is the common abbreviation for the chemical compound 5-(2-methylaminopropyl)benzofuran. In a 2017 scientific paper published in Progress in Neuro-Psychopharmacology and Biological Psychiatry, Sahai and colleagues identify the compound as 1-(1-benzofuran-5-yl)-N-methylpropan-2-amine. The authors categorize 5-MAPB as a novel psychoactive substance, pointing out that the pharmacological characteristics of such emerging compounds are largely unknown.

Chemically, 5-MAPB is classified as a benzofuran derivative and an analogue of MDMA. In a 2017 receptor binding study published in Naunyn-Schmiedeberg's Archives of Pharmacology, Shimshoni and colleagues examine 5-MAPB alongside 5-APB and 6-MAPB, describing all three compounds as MDMA-benzofuran analogues.

Readers interested in MDMA itself can review our guide on MDMA regulations and research.

What the Research Shows So Far

Published research on 5-MAPB focuses primarily on laboratory binding profiles and animal behavioral models. In the 2017 study by Shimshoni and colleagues, investigators screened novel indole and benzofuran MDMA analogues as potential second-generation anti-PTSD drugs against a range of neurochemical receptors, transporters, and enzymes. All examined MDMA analogues, including 5-MAPB, demonstrated high binding affinity for serotonin 5-HT2A, 5-HT2B, and 5-HT2C receptors, along with significant uptake inhibition of serotonin, dopamine, and norepinephrine. In that assay, 5-MAPB produced significant agonist activity at the 5-HT2C receptor, and the analogues acted as potent, selective monoamine oxidase A inhibitors. Overall, the analogues exhibited higher binding affinities and agonist activity at 5-HT2A and 5-HT2C receptors than MDMA itself. This was an in vitro laboratory study and does not demonstrate that 5-MAPB is a treatment for any condition.

A separate 2017 study by Sahai and colleagues investigated the stimulant properties of 5-MAPB using rat brain tissue and computational molecular modeling. The investigators found that 5-MAPB binds the dopamine transporter, reduces the rate of dopamine reuptake, and can cause reverse dopamine transport. The authors reported that this activity is consistent with stimulant properties more similar to amphetamine than cocaine. Sahai and colleagues observed that chemical substances exhibiting stimulant properties through the dopamine transporter carry addictive potential that users may not realize.

In 2023, researchers at the University of North Texas Health Science Center published an animal behavioral study in Drug and Alcohol Dependence Reports. Hill and colleagues evaluated locomotor and discriminative stimulus effects of three benzofuran compounds in rodents. In mice, 5-MAPB generated modest stimulant effects. In rats trained to recognize MDMA, 5-MAPB fully substituted for MDMA. Furthermore, 5-MAPB was the only one of the three tested benzofuran compounds that also fully substituted for cocaine. Hill and colleagues noted that all three tested benzofurans were more potent than MDMA, that full substitution for MDMA suggests similar subjective effects, and that these benzofuran compounds may have abuse liability as substitutes for MDMA.

Reported Harm in the Published Literature

The authors of one 2023 study write in their abstract that benzofurans are used recreationally due to their ability to cause psychostimulant or entactogenic effects, but unfortunately produce substantial adverse effects, including death.

A 2024 forensic case report published in the International Journal of Legal Medicine by Epain and colleagues documents a fatal co-intoxication involving 5-MAPB. The report describes the death of an individual following exposure to two uncommon novel substances, alpha-methyltryptamine (AMT) and 5-MAPB, combined with benzodiazepines, ephedrine, and norephedrine. The authors observed that the scientific literature contains little reliable data regarding new psychoactive substances, which creates challenges when assessing toxic blood levels and potentially lethal thresholds.

Because multiple active substances were present in the 2024 fatality, that single case report does not isolate or show what 5-MAPB does on its own. Furthermore, none of the published scientific sources reviewed on this site provide any safe-use parameters or safety records for 5-MAPB in humans.

State Law on Unverified Compounds

State controlled substance legislation operates independently of the federal scheduling system. State drug laws are separate from the federal lists and vary.

This page makes no state-by-state legality claims regarding 5-MAPB, because we have not checked any state statute for the compound. An absence of explicit federal scheduling does not mean that a substance is unscheduled or permitted under individual state criminal codes. For broader statutory context on how state laws approach scheduled compounds like MDMA or natural psychedelics, readers can explore our guides on where MDMA is legal and our psychedelic legal map.

Readers tracking jurisdictional reforms regarding therapeutic and natural substances can also reference our state legal status tool. A lawyer can advise on a specific situation under state law.

What This Page Cannot Tell You

Significant legal and pharmacological limitations apply to the information available for 5-MAPB. The scientific literature reviewed for this desk review consists strictly of laboratory binding experiments, computational simulations, rodent behavioral tests, and one multi-substance forensic case report. There are no human clinical trials of 5-MAPB in any of the reviewed literature.

This page provides no dose instructions, no preparation guidelines, no sourcing advice, and no safety record for 5-MAPB in humans, because none of the reviewed scientific sources supports such information. Nobody on this site has tested, handled, or sourced 5-MAPB.

Federal regulatory classification remains subject to administrative and judicial interpretation. If you need an official determination regarding whether 5-MAPB is treated as a scheduled drug or listed chemical under federal statutes, the Drug Enforcement Administration instructs parties to submit a written inquiry to the Drug and Chemical Evaluation Section, Diversion Control Division. For specific criminal liability questions under state or federal law, an attorney can advise on your individual situation.