A recent large population study of 130,000 adults in the United States failed to find evidence for a link between psychedelic use (lysergic acid diethylamide, psilocybin or mescaline) and mental health problems. Using a new data set consisting of 135,095 randomly selected United States adults, including 19,299 psychedelic users, we examine the associations between psychedelic use and mental health. After adjusting for sociodemographics, other drug use and childhood depression, we found no significant associations between lifetime use of psychedelics and increased likelihood of past year serious psychological distress, mental health treatment, suicidal thoughts, suicidal plans and suicide attempt, depression and anxiety. We failed to find evidence that psychedelic use is an independent risk factor for mental health problems. Psychedelics are not known to harm the brain or other body organs or to cause addiction or compulsive use; serious adverse events involving psychedelics are extremely rare. Overall, it is difficult to see how prohibition of psychedelics can be justified as a public health measure.

References

American Psychiatric Association ( 1994 ) Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Health Disorders, 4th edn. Washington DC : American Psychiatric Association .

Google Scholar

Baum, D ( 2012 ) Truth, lies, and audiotape . In: Smith, L (ed), The Moment: Wild, Poignant, Life-Changing Stories from 125 Writers and Artists Famous & Obscure. New York : Harper Perennial .

Google Scholar

Baumeister, D, Barnes, G, Giaroli, G ( 2014 ) Classical hallucinogens as antidepressants? A review of pharmacodynamics and putative clinical roles . Ther Adv Psychopharmacol 4: 156 – 169 .

Google Scholar SAGE Journals

BMA ( 2012 ) Risk: What’s your perspective? Available at: http://bmaopac.hosted.exlibrisgroup.com/exlibris/aleph/a21_1/apache_media/YIVHJTLF47Q118N114JPHDHV6RU6GP.pdf ( ).

Google Scholar

Bogenschutz, MP ( 2013 ) Studying the effects of classic hallucinogens in the treatment of alcoholism: Rationale, methodology, and current research with psilocybin . Curr Drug Abuse Rev 6: 17 – 29 .

Google Scholar Crossref | Medline

Bonson, KR ( 2012 ) Hallucinogenic drugs . In: eLS. Chichester : John Wiley & Sons . epub ahead of print DOI: 10.1002/9780470015902.a0000166.pub2.

Google Scholar Crossref

Bouso, JC, González, D, Fondevila, S ( 2012 ) Personality, psychopathology, life attitudes and neuropsychological performance among ritual users of ayahuasca: A longitudinal study . PLoS ONE 7: e42421 .

Google Scholar Crossref | Medline | ISI

Bruhn, JG, De Smet, PA, El-Seedi, HR ( 2002 ) Mescaline use for 5700 years . Lancet 359: 1866 .

Google Scholar Crossref | Medline | ISI

CAM (Coördinatiepunt Assessment en Monitoring nieuwe drugs) ( 2007 ) Aanvullende informatie paddoincidenten in Amsterdam [Additional information on mushroom incidents in Amsterdam]. Bilthoven : Rijksinstituut voor Volksgezondheid en Milieu . Available at: www.rivm.nl/bibliotheek/digitaaldepot/cam_paddo_aanvulling.pdf ( ).

Google Scholar

Canada Department of National Health and Welfare ( 1973 ) Final report of the Commission of Inquiry into the Non-Medical Use of Drugs . Ottawa : Information Canada . p. 376 .

Google Scholar

Carhart-Harris, RL, Nutt, DJ ( 2010 ) User perceptions of the benefits and harms of hallucinogenic drug use: A web-based questionnaire study . J Subst Abuse 15: 283 – 300 .

Google Scholar

CDC ( 2013 ) Deaths and mortality . Available at: www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/deaths.htm ( ).

Google Scholar

CDC ( 2014 ) Emergency department visits . Available at: www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/emergency-department.htm ( ).

Google Scholar

Cohen, S ( 1960 ) Lysergic acid diethylamide: Side effects and complications . J Nerv Ment Dis 130: 30 – 40 .

Google Scholar Crossref | Medline | ISI

Collier, J ( 1952 ) The peyote cult . Science 115: 503 – 504 .

Google Scholar Crossref | Medline

Eddy, NB, Halbach, H, Isbell, H ( 1965 ) Drug dependence: Its significance and characteristics . Bull World Health Organ 32: 721 – 733 .

Google Scholar Medline

EMCDDA ( 2011 ) Drug profiles: Lysergide (LSD) . Available at: www.emcdda.europa.eu/publications/drug-profiles/lsd ( ).

Google Scholar

Evang, K ( 1968 ) LSD: New menace to youth . UNESCO Courier, May , 18–20 .

Google Scholar

Griffiths, RR, Johnson, MW, Richards, WA ( 2011 ) Psilocybin occasioned mystical-type experiences: Immediate and persisting dose-related effects . Psychopharmacology (Berl) 218: 649 – 665 .

Google Scholar Crossref | Medline | ISI

Griffiths, R, Richards, W, Johnson, M ( 2008 ) Mystical-type experiences occasioned by psilocybin mediate the attribution of personal meaning and spiritual significance 14 months later . J Psychopharmacol 22: 621 – 632 .

Google Scholar SAGE Journals | ISI

Griffiths, RR, Richards, WA, McCann, U ( 2006 ) Psilocybin can occasion mystical-type experiences having substantial and sustained personal meaning and spiritual significance . Psychopharmacology (Berl) 187: 268 – 283 .

Google Scholar Crossref | Medline | ISI

Halberstadt, AL ( 2015 ) Recent advances in the neuropsychopharmacology of serotonergic hallucinogens . Behav Brain Res 277: 99 – 120 .

Google Scholar Crossref | Medline | ISI

Hallock, RM, Dean, A, Knecht, ZA ( 2013 ) A survey of hallucinogenic mushroom use, factors related to usage, and perceptions of use among college students . Drug Alcohol Depend 130: 245 – 248 .

Google Scholar Crossref | Medline | ISI

Halpern, JH, Sherwood, AR, Hudson, JI ( 2005 ) Psychological and cognitive effects of long-term peyote use among Native Americans . Biol Psychiatry 58: 624 – 631 .

Google Scholar Crossref | Medline | ISI

Hayman, M ( 1964 ) Science, mysticism and psychopharmacology . Calif Med 101: 266 – 271 .

Google Scholar Medline

Hendricks, PS, Clark, CB, Johnson, MW ( 2014 ) Hallucinogen use predicts reduced recidivism among substance-involved offenders under community corrections supervision . J Psychopharmacol 28: 62 – 66 .

Google Scholar SAGE Journals | ISI

Home Office, Department of Health and Social Security ( 1970 ) The amphetamines and lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD). Report by the Advisory Committee on Drug Dependence . London : Her Majesty’s Stationery Office .

Google Scholar

Isbell, H, Chrusciel, TL ( 1970 ) Dependence liability of ‘non-narcotic’ drugs . Bull World Health Organ 43 ( Suppl ): 5 – 111 .

Google Scholar Medline

Johnson, M, Richards, W, Griffiths, R ( 2008 ) Human hallucinogen research: Guidelines for safety . J Psychopharmacol 22: 603 – 620 .

Google Scholar SAGE Journals | ISI

Johnson, MW, Garcia-Romeu, A, Cosimano, MP ( 2014 ) Pilot study of the 5-HT2AR agonist psilocybin in the treatment of tobacco addiction . J Psychopharmacol 28: 983 – 992 .

Google Scholar SAGE Journals | ISI

Johnston, LD, O’Malley, PM ( 1997 ) The recanting of earlier reported drug use by young adults . NIDA Res Monogr 167: 59 – 80 .

Google Scholar Medline

Kelly, TM, Cornelius, JR, Lynch, KG ( 2002 ) Psychiatric and substance use disorders as risk factors for attempted suicide among adolescents: A case control study . Suicide Life Threat Behav 32: 301 – 312 .

Google Scholar Crossref | Medline

Kessler, RC, Barker, PR, Colpe, LJ ( 2003a ) Screening for serious mental illness in the general population . Arch Gen Psychiatry 60: 184 – 189 .

Google Scholar Crossref | Medline

Kessler, RC, Berglund, P, Demler, O ( 2003b ) The epidemiology of major depressive disorder: Results from the National Comorbidity Survey Replication (NCS-R) . JAMA 289: 3095 – 3105 .

Google Scholar Crossref | Medline | ISI

Kessler, RC, Green, JG, Gruber, MJ ( 2010 ) Screening for serious mental illness in the general population with the K6 screening scale: Results from the WHO World Mental Health (WMH) survey initiative . Int J Methods Psychiatr Res 19 ( Suppl 1 ): 4 – 22 .

Google Scholar Crossref | Medline | ISI

Kleber, HD ( 1967 ) Prolonged adverse reactions from unsupervised use of hallucinogenic drugs . J Nerv Ment Dis 144: 308 – 319 .

Google Scholar Crossref

Krebs, TS, Johansen, PØ ( 2012 ) Lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) for alcoholism: Meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials . J Psychopharmacol 26: 994 – 1002 .

Google Scholar SAGE Journals | ISI

Krebs, TS, Johansen, PØ ( 2013a ) Over 30 million psychedelic users in the United States . F1000Res 2: 98 . .

Google Scholar Medline

Krebs, TS, Johansen, PØ ( 2013b ) Psychedelics and mental health: A population study . PLoS ONE 8: e63972 .

Google Scholar Crossref | Medline | ISI

La Barre, W, McAllester, DP, Slotkin, JS ( 1951 ) Statement on peyote . Science 114: 582 – 583 .

Google Scholar Crossref | Medline

Laing, R, Siegel, JA (eds) ( 2003 ) Hallucinogens: A Forensic Drug Handbook. Waltham, MA : Academic Press .

Google Scholar

Le Farge, O ( 1960 ) Defining peyote as a narcotic . Am Anthropologist 62: 687 – 689 .

Google Scholar Crossref

McGlothlin, WH, Arnold, DO ( 1971 ) LSD revisited. A ten-year follow-up of medical LSD use . Arch Gen Psychiatry 24: 35 – 49 .

Google Scholar Crossref | Medline

MacLean, KA, Johnson, MW, Griffiths, RR ( 2011 ) Mystical experiences occasioned by the hallucinogen psilocybin lead to increases in the personality domain of openness . J Psychopharmacol 25: 1453 – 1461 .

Google Scholar SAGE Journals | ISI

McWilliams, SA, Tuttle, RJ ( 1973 ) Long-term psychological effects of LSD . Psychol Bull 79: 341 – 351 .

Google Scholar Crossref | Medline

Malleson, N ( 1971 ) Acute adverse reactions to LSD in clinical and experimental use in the United Kingdom . Br J Psychiatry 118: 229 – 230 .

Google Scholar Crossref | Medline | ISI

Mikkelson, B, Mikkelson, DP ( 2005 ) Death of Diane Linkletter . Urban Legends Reference Pages. Available at: www.snopes.com/horrors/drugs/linkletter.asp ( ).

Google Scholar

Morgan, CJ, Muetzelfeldt, L, Muetzelfeldt, M ( 2010 ) Harms associated with psychoactive substances: Findings of the UK National Drug Survey . J Psychopharmacol 24: 147 – 153 .

Google Scholar SAGE Journals | ISI

Newberne, RE, Burke, CH ( 1922 ) Peyote: An Abridged Compilation from the Files of the Bureau of Indian Affairs. Washington DC : US Government Printing Office . Available at: http://archive.org/details/peyoteabridgedco00unit ( ).

Google Scholar

Nutt, DJ, King, LA, Nichols, DE ( 2013 ) Effects of Schedule I drug laws on neuroscience research and treatment innovation . Nat Rev Neurosci 14: 577 – 585 .

Google Scholar Crossref | Medline | ISI

Nutt, DJ, King, LA, Phillips, LD Independent Scientific Committee on Drugs (2010) Drug harms in the UK: A multicriteria decision analysis. Lancet 376: 1558 – 1565 .

Google Scholar Crossref | Medline

Nutt, D, King, LA, Saulsbury, W ( 2007 ) Development of a rational scale to assess the harm of drugs of potential misuse . Lancet 369: 1047 – 1053 .

Google Scholar Crossref | Medline | ISI

Pinker, S ( 2008 ) The stupidity of dignity . New Republic 28 May 2008 . Available at: http://pinker.wjh.harvard.edu/articles/media/The%20Stupidity%20of%20Dignity.htm ( ).

Google Scholar

Schankin, CJ, Maniyar, FH, Digre, KB ( 2014 ) ‘Visual snow’ – a disorder distinct from persistent migraine aura . Brain 137: 1419 – 1428 .

Google Scholar Crossref | Medline | ISI

Segal, J (ed) ( 1975 ) Research in the service of mental health. Report of the Research Task Force of the National Institute of Mental Health . Washington, DC : US Government Printing Office .

Google Scholar

Shoval, G, Sever, J, Sher, L ( 2006 ) Substance use, suicidality, and adolescent-onset schizophrenia: An Israeli 10-year retrospective study . J Child Adolesc Psychopharmacol 16: 767 – 775 .

Google Scholar Crossref | Medline

Siff, SI ( 2008 ) Glossy visions: Coverage of LSD in popular magazines, 1954–1968 (electronic thesis or dissertation). Available online at: http://etd.ohiolink.edu/ap/10?0::NO:10:P10_ACCESSION_NUM:ohiou1225818399 (accessed ).

Google Scholar

Stewart, OC ( 1987 ) Peyote Religion: A History. Norman, OK : University of Oklahoma Press , p. 168 .

Google Scholar

Studerus, E, Kometer, M, Hasler, F ( 2011 ) Acute, subacute and long-term subjective effects of psilocybin in healthy humans: A pooled analysis of experimental studies . J Psychopharmacol 25: 1434 – 1452 .

Google Scholar SAGE Journals | ISI

Taylor, M, Mackay, K, Murphy, J ( 2012 ) Quantifying the RR of harm to self and others from substance misuse: Results from a survey of clinical experts across Scotland . BMJ Open 2. DOI: 10.1136/bmjopen-2011-000774.

Google Scholar Crossref

Time ( 1966 ) An epidemic of acid heads . Time, 11 March 1966, p. 56 .

Google Scholar

United Nations General Assembly ( 1948 ) Universal declaration of human rights . Available at: www.refworld.org/docid/3ae6b3712c.html ( ).

Google Scholar

US Department of Health and Human Services, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, Center for Behavioral Health Statistics and Quality ( 2013 ) Drug Abuse Warning Network (DAWN), 2010 . ICPSR34083-v2. Report, Ann Arbor, MI : Inter-University Consortium for Political and Social Research .

Google Scholar

US Senate, Committee on Government Operations, Subcommittee on Executive Reorganization ( 1968 ) Organization and Coordination of Federal Drug Research and Regulatory Programs: LSD. Washington, DC : US Government Printing Office . p. 7 .

Google Scholar

van Amsterdam, J, Opperhuizen, A, Koeter, M, van den Brink, W ( 2010 ) Ranking the harm of alcohol, tobacco and illicit drugs for the individual and the population . Eur Addict Res 16: 202 – 7 . doi: 10.1159/000317249.

Google Scholar Crossref | Medline

van Amsterdam, J, Opperhuizen, A, Koeter, M.( 2010 ) Ranking the harm of alcohol, tobacco and illicit drugs for the individual and the population. Eur Addict Res 16: 202 – 207 .

Google Scholar Crossref | Medline

Vittinghoff, E, McCulloch, CE ( 2007 ) Relaxing the rule of ten events per variable in logistic and Cox regression . Am J Epidemiol 165: 710 – 718 .

Google Scholar Crossref | Medline | ISI

Walsh, C ( 2014 ). Beyond religious freedom: Psychedelics and cognitive liberty . In: Labate, BC, Cavnar, C (eds) Prohibition, Religious Freedom, and Human Rights: Regulating Traditional Drug Use. Berlin : Springer , pp. 211 – 233 .

Google Scholar Crossref