Addiction
August 17, 2022
Ofir Livne, Dvora Shmulewitz, Claire Walsh et al.
90 citations
Hallucinogen use in the United States has shifted in opposite directions across age groups since 2002. Among adolescents aged 12–17, use declined, while adults aged 26 and older showed increased use, particularly after 2015. By 2019, over 5.5 million adults aged 18 and older were estimated to have used hallucinogens in the past year. Lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) use rose across all age groups, while ecstasy use fell among adolescents and adults. Phencyclidine (PCP) use decreased overall and among younger age groups. These trends come from nationally representative survey data spanning 2002 to 2019.
Addictive behaviors reports
December 1, 2022
Claire A Walsh, Ofir Livne, Dvora Shmulewitz et al.
34 citations
Lifetime use of psilocybin, tryptamine, and ketamine increased among U.S. adults from 2002 to 2019, while mescaline use declined. Among people aged 26 and older, use of most plant-based hallucinogens and dissociative agents rose, but adolescents and young adults showed decreases. Overall, use of these substances remains rare. The findings are based on nationally representative data from over one million respondents aged 12 and older.
JAMA psychiatry
January 1, 2024
Claire A Walsh, Lauren Gorfinkel, Dvora Shmulewitz et al.
24 citations
From 2008 to 2019, past-year LSD use increased more among US adults with major depression (from 0.5% to 1.8%) than among those without depression (from 0.2% to 0.8%), a difference-in-difference of 0.8 percentage points. The increase was especially pronounced in adults aged 18–34 with depression and in those with annual household incomes below $75,000. The findings suggest that growing clinical interest in hallucinogens may be accompanied by rising nonmedical LSD use among people with depression, particularly younger adults and those with lower incomes. Clinicians are advised to discuss harm reduction and potential benefits with patients who use LSD in unsupervised settings.