Psilocybin is Most Popular Psychedelic Microdose, Survey Finds

A new report has found that psilocybin is the most popular psychedelic drug in the US — news that will be no surprise for those who already include microdosing in their wellness routine.

Yes, psilocybin mushrooms and truffles are taking their long-awaited place in the spotlight. In recent years they have become the most-used psychedelic drug in the United States, with an estimated 8 million adults having consumed them in 2023. That’s around 3% of the entire population!

Psilocybin is the Most Popular Psychedelic

In the survey MDMA ranked as the second most-used psychedelic in 2023, while LSD was a close third. Then came DMT and mescaline, while the incredibly intense Ibogaine and 5-MeO-DMT understandably lagged behind. 

In regards to lifetime use, psilocybin also came out on top, with LSD just a little behind. The report did not include ketamine, which some argue is not a psychedelic. If it had been included, it likely would have also ranked highly too, due to its long-held reputation as a ‘party drug’. A previous study estimated that in 2019, 5.5 million adults in the US had used psychedelics, meaning a jump of at least 2.5 million people using psychedelics in just 4 years. Not bad!

Psilocybin to the Rescue

Darren LeBaron, educator and mycologist, told Double Blind Magazine;

“As we can see, the US, like many other places around the world, is turning to shit,… Who better than the mushrooms to emerge in this season of need to help clean up this mess?”

The reasons for the popularity of magic mushrooms aren’t a mystery. They are a fun, insightful, sometimes transformative experience. They are also relatively cheap, and safe — almost everyone knows a friend who has enjoyed, and recommends microdosing psilocybin. This, coupled with the recent positive media attention focused on them explains why their popularity is growing year on year. 

Psilocybin is Most Popular Psychedelic Microdose, Survey Finds

Of those who reported using psilocybin mushrooms in the past year, 47% said their last time taking them was as a microdose. Microdosing seems to be another key aspect of interest, with searches for the term increasing 1,250% since 2015. Searches for psilocybin also zoomed ahead of those for LSD all the way back in 2019. Pretty good for a word that only those into natural healing knew, up until recently!

Psilocybin is the Most Accessible Psychedelic

One of the reasons that the interest in microdosing and shrooms have grown in tandem is because they are much easier to microdose than LSD. LSD, once the darling of the psychedelic world has seen a decrease in popularity, in line with the ‘shroom boom’.

The founder of the survey Adam Winstock, has discussed the impracticalities of LSD in the past. In a previous interview he told the Guardian;

“LSD is such a potent drug,… It’s so difficult to dose accurately when tabs you buy vary so widely. It’s easy to take too much and have an experience beyond the one you were expecting.”

The other psychedelics further down the list have their drawbacks too. Mescaline is hard to get hold of and has a effect that lasts too long for most people, especially for recreational use. The euphoric effects of MDMA diminish with frequent use, and DMT and 5-MeO-DMT are not really thought of as social drugs. Additionally, these drugs are not generally microdosed — and according to the survey, microdosing seems to be the most popular way for people to engage with psychedelics.

People Are Replacing Alcohol with Shrooms

The study also reflects the growing use of psilocybin as a social or ‘party’ drug. Once thought of as something to be enjoyed as a tool of retrospection, and inner exploration, the ease with which you can control your dose means a micro-or-low dose of psilocybin has become a popular replacement for other substances, including alcohol. 

The report was made by the RAND Corporation. The non-profit think tank analyzed a 3,800 person survey on drug use, alongside official data. The survey data reported that when added all together, cannabis was used for a total of 650 million days among all American adults. All psychedelics accounted for only 7 million days. However, this is growing. Could we one day see a future where psilocybin is as accepted and widely spread as cannabis?

This survey follows research that suggests the use of psychedelics by young adults doubled between 2018 and 2021, with around 8% using one or more psychedelics in 2021. This is apparently the highest recorded figure since the 1980s, according to a study published last year. Study co-author Megan Patrick told The Hill; “It’s really difficult to explain these trends… We have some guesses, but we don’t really know yet.” 

The RAND survey suggested that 31.7 million Americans have used psilocybin in their lifetime. This is slightly ahead of the 31.5 million people estimated to have taken LSD. However with the growing interest in microdosing psilocybin this gap could easily widen. 

Just the Beginning…

The growing popularity of magic truffles and mushrooms reflects the desire many people have for connection in an increasingly divided world. It also suggests a turn back to the natural world, and healing practices that are not ruled by synthetic chemicals. It is likely we will see the number of people who microdose psilocybin increase globally year, on year.