Ongoing discussions about whether psychedelics can help treat mental illness and improve quality of life have forced officials and researchers to seek public opinion.

All psychedelics are listed as Schedule I substances, although the FDA classified psychedelic-assisted treatments as “breakthrough therapy” in 2017 sign of support for the research and development of substances in patients with life-threatening conditions, as clinical studies indicate that they may show a significant improvement over other therapeutics.

According to a recent US government-sponsored survey More and more adults are using psychedelics, while adolescent use is declining.

Other to learnlead by University of Columbia and financed by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA)examined trends in hallucinogen use among teenagers and adults from 2002 to 2019 and reported similar findings.

The Columbia study, spanning almost two decades, showed that use by people aged 26 and over had increased to 5.5 million in 2019.

The study found a decrease in hallucinogen use among adolescents aged 12 to 17 between 2002 and 2019. This suggests that “public health prevention efforts, as well as policy changes to reduce availability, are effective in reducing hallucinogen use among adolescents,” co-author Ofir Livne said.

Beware of the media hype

Deborah Hasin, who co-authored the study with Livne, warned of the media heralded “psychedelic revolution” coupled with “commercialization and marketing that could further reduce public perceptions of risk.”

Hasin postulated that researchers, clinicians, and policymakers “should turn their attention to the rising rates of uncontrolled hallucinogen use in the general public” and organize “preventive strategies.”

According to the numbers

According to the data:

• More than 5.5 million people in the US used hallucinogens in 2019.
• This is an increase from 1.7% of the population (aged 12 and over) in 2002 to 2.2% in 2019.
• Since…