Perceptions of Psychedelic Decriminalization: Findings from a Community Survey of People Who Use Psychedelics

Psychedelic decriminalization has moved from the margins of drug-policy discourse to a mainstream public health and equity conversation. This community survey reveals that people with psychedelic experience who live in areas that have decriminalized psychedelics report greater benefits of psychedelic decriminalization than adverse outcomes. In decriminalized zones, most (84.0%) participants (N = 163) reported feeling improvements in one of the following areas because of decriminalization: legal risks, social acceptance, substance availability, substance safety, diversity of available products, and overall substance quality. Only 5.5% of participants reported worsened conditions in any category. Most (74.8%) participants also reported decriminalization-related improvements related to psychedelic therapy, such as social acceptance, availability, legal risks, safety, and diversity of services available. Notably, no participant reported that legal risk had worsened. Post decriminalization, most (72.4%) participants reported improvements in life conditions including stress and anxiety, worry, depressive symptoms, physical health, addiction, family relationships, other relationships, connection to community, working conditions, and financial status. Only 8.6% of participants reported declines in any category regarding psychedelic therapy or life conditions (2.5%). Although our methodology precludes attributions of causality, this initial study may inspire research with more sophisticated methodologies.