Anticipating that the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) would move to criminalize MDMA in light of the drug's increasing popularity in recreational use, Rick Doblin, Alise Agar and Debby Harlow organized a non-profit group called Earth Metabolic Design Laboratories (EMDL) to advocate for the potential therapeutic use of MDMA.
EMDL organized supporters to petition the DEA for a scheduling hearing regarding MDMA.