The International Therapeutic Psilocybin Rescheduling Initiative was founded to promote and secure a rescheduling of psilocybin under the 1971 UN Convention on Psychoactive Substances. Psilocybin is one of several psychedelic compounds that have shown remarkable promise for the treatment of a range of mental health conditions, including treatment resistant depression, major depressive disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder, end-life-psychological distress and substance use disorder. In most countries, legal control of psilocybin results from its Schedule I status under the 1971 Convention. Meant for dangerous drugs which create an especially serious risk to public health and whose therapeutic value is little to none, Schedule I drugs are subject to strict limits on their scientific and medical use. Schedule I licensing, safe-custody, security, and other restrictions result in a level of regulatory control and oversight that is drastically more onerous than for the Convention’s other three schedules. As a result, researchers wishing to study psilocybin face numerous regulatory hurdles which add significantly to the cost, complexity, and duration of research and ultimately delay the approval of treatments for patients. The evidentiary basis for including psilocybin in Schedule I remains unclear but appears to have been based largely on political considerations and a mistaken presumption that these drugs offered no medical benefit and posed a high risk of abuse and dependence. Basing its objectives on research from a number of leading universities and institutes, and with the ultimate goal of accelerating research and fostering the availability of psilocybin-assisted therapies for those suffering from mental illness and addiction, ITRPI will pursue a change to psilocybin’s current Schedule I status.