Seasonal Variation of Use of Common Psychedelics and Party Drugs Among Nightclub/Festival Attendees in New York City

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.

Study at a glance

Abstract

Few epidemiological studies have focused on seasonal variation in the use of common psychedelics and party drugs among nightclub and festival attendees, typically those who attend electronic dance music (EDM) events. We sought to determine whether the use of different drug types varies seasonally within this population. Across 15 seasons from summer 2017 through fall 2022, we surveyed 3,935 adults entering randomly selected nightclubs and festivals in New York City regarding their past-month use of cocaine, MDMA (3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine, commonly known as ecstasy), lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD), psilocybin (shrooms), and ketamine. Multivariable models were used to compare adjusted odds ratios for drug use within each season with the grand mean of combined seasons. Summer was associated with higher odds for use of LSD (aOR 2.72; 95% CI, 1.88-3.93) and psilocybin (aOR 1.65; CI, 1.12-2.43), independent of increases in psilocybin use over time (p p = .014) and significant decreases in use of cocaine (p = .002) and ecstasy (p = .002) were found across time, but multivariable models did not detect seasonal variations. Summer is a risk factor for use of common psychedelics among people who attend EDM events. Therefore, the summer months may be the best time to disseminate information about harm reduction for psychedelic drug users.