Hallucinogen use among young adults ages 19–30 in the United States: Changes from 2018 to 2021

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Given the shifting landscape of hallucinogen use, particularly with increased therapeutic use, understanding current changes in use is a necessary part of examining the potential risk hallucinogens pose to vulnerable populations, such as young adults. This study aimed to measure hallucinogen use among young adults aged 19-30 years from 2018 to 2021. DESIGN, SETTING AND PARTICIPANTS: This was a longitudinal cohort study among young adults aged 19-30 years from the US general population, interviewed between 2018 and 2021. Participants comprised 11 304 unique respondents, with an average number of follow-ups of 1.46 (standard deviation = 0.50). Of the observed data points, 51.9% were among females. MEASUREMENTS: We examined past 12-month self-reported use of lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD), as well as hallucinogens besides LSD (e.g. psilocybin), monitoring any use as well as frequency, overall and by sex. FINDINGS: From 2018 to 2021, past 12-month use of LSD among young adults in the US remained relatively unchanged, from 3.7% 95% confidence interval (CI) = 3.1-4.3 in 2018 to 4.2% in 2021 (95% CI = 3.4-5.0). Non-LSD hallucinogen e.g. 'shrooms', psilocybin or PCP (phenylcyclohexyl piperidine) use, however, increased in prevalence from 3.4% (95% CI = 2.8-4.1) to 6.6% from 2018 to 2021 (95% CI = 5.5-7.6). Across years, the odds of non-LSD use were higher for males odds ratio (OR) = 1.86, 95% CI = 1.52-2.26 and lower for black than white participants (OR = 0.29, 95% CI = 0.19-0.47) and those without a college-educated parent (OR = 0.80, 95% CI = 0.64-0.99). Demographic disparities were similar for LSD use. CONCLUSION: Prevalence of past-year use non-lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) hallucinogen was twice as high in 2021 as in 2018 among US young adults. Correlates of non-LSD hallucinogen use included being male, white and from higher socio-economic status backgrounds.