About 2.8% of U.S. residents ages 12 and older — roughly 8 million people — reported past-year psilocybin use, according to a study published April 21 in The American Journal of Psychiatry. The drug is a hallucinogenic compound found in so-called “magic mushrooms.”
Researchers at the University of California San Diego School of Medicine and New York University Grossman School of Medicine in New York City analyzed data from the 2024 National Survey on Drug Use and Health, which included 58,633 respondents and captured psilocybin-specific use over the prior 12 months.
Here are four things to know:
- Adults ages 18-25 have 1.4 times the odds of psilocybin use compared to those ages 35-49. Individuals over 50 have about one-third lower odds.
- Males had 1.7 times the odds of use compared to females, and white respondents had 2.5 times the odds of Black respondents and 1.4 times the odds of Hispanic respondents.
- Past-year psilocybin use was associated with use of cannabis and hallucinogens, as well as alcohol use disorder and prescription stimulation misuse.
- Individuals who experienced a major depressive episode in the past year had higher odds of psilocybin use, and clinicians should routinely ask patients about use and provide harm-reduction counseling, according to the study.
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