From 2018 to 2021, past-year use of non-LSD hallucinogens (such as psilocybin) among US young adults aged 19–30 doubled from 3.4% to 6.6%, while LSD use remained stable around 4%. Males were nearly twice as likely as females to use non-LSD hallucinogens, and use was lower among Black participants and those without a college-educated parent. The findings suggest growing use of these substances in a population that may be vulnerable to their effects.
Among nightclub and festival attendees at electronic dance music events in New York City, summer is associated with higher odds of using LSD and psilocybin (shrooms), independent of long-term increases in psilocybin use. Across 15 seasons from summer 2017 through fall 2022, surveys of 3,935 adults found that summer raised the odds of LSD use more than 2.5 times and psilocybin use more than 1.6 times compared to the average across all seasons. Cocaine and ecstasy use decreased over the study period without seasonal variation. The findings suggest summer as a key time for disseminating harm-reduction information for psychedelic users.