State Cannabis and Psychedelic Legislation and Microdosing Interest in the US.
Kevin H. Yang, Nora Satybaldiyeva, Matthew R Allen, John W Ayers, Eric C. Leas
JAMA Health Forum June 7, 2024 DOI: 10.1001/jamahealthforum.2024.1653 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Cross-sectional study Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Population | Google search queries in the US and across US states |
| Duration | January 1, 2010, to December 31, 2023 |
| Topics | Cannabis Microdosing |
| Citations | 16 |
| Key findings | State-led legislative reforms on cannabis and psychedelics were associated with increased public interest in microdosing psychedelics. |
Abstract
Despite growing interest in psychedelics, there is a lack of routine population-based surveillance of psychedelic microdosing (taking "subperceptual" doses of psychedelics, approximately one-twentieth to one-fifth of a full dose, over prolonged periods). Analyzing Google search queries can provide insights into public interest and help address this gap. To analyze trends in public interest in microdosing in the US through Google search queries and assess their association with cannabis and psychedelic legislative reforms. In this cross-sectional study, a dynamic event-time difference-in-difference time series analysis was used to assess the impact of cannabis and psychedelic legislation on microdosing search rates from January 1, 2010, to December 31, 2023. Google search rates mentioning "microdosing," "micro dosing," "microdose," or "micro dose" within the US and across US states were measured in aggregate. Enactment of (1) local psychedelic decriminalization laws; (2) legalization of psychedelic-assisted therapy and statewide psychedelic decriminalization; (3) statewide medical cannabis use laws; (4) statewide recreational cannabis use laws; and (5) all cannabis and psychedelic use restricted. Microdosing searches per 10 million Google queries were measured, examining annual and monthly changes in search rates across the US, including frequency and nature of related searches. Searches for microdosing in the US remained stable until 2014, then increased annually thereafter, with a cumulative increase by a factor of 13.4 from 2015 to 2023 (7.9 per 10 million to 105.6 per 10 million searches, respectively). In 2023, there were 3.0 million microdosing searches in the US. Analysis at the state level revealed that local psychedelic decriminalization laws were associated with an increase in search rates by 22.4 per 10 million (95% CI, 7.5-37.2), statewide psychedelic therapeutic legalization and decriminalization were associated with an increase in search rates by 28.9 per 10 million (95% CI, 16.5-41.2), statewide recreational cannabis laws were associated with an increase in search rates by 40.9 per 10 million (95% CI, 28.6-53.3), and statewide medical cannabis laws were associated with an increase in search rates by 11.5 per 10 million (95% CI, 6.0-16.9). From August through December 2023, 27.0% of the variation in monthly microdosing search rates between states was explained by differences in cannabis and psychedelics legal status. This cross-sectional study found that state-led legislative reforms on cannabis and psychedelics were associated with increased public interest in microdosing psychedelics.
Comparable studies
Other cross-sectional and survey studies on microdosing, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| Motives and Side-Effects of Microdosing With Psychedelics Among Users Psychedelic users with microdosing experience | 2019 | Cross-sectional survey | n = 1,116 |
| Microdosing psychedelics: Motivations, subjective effects and harm reduction People aged 16 years or older who had used psychedelics and could comprehend written... | 2019 | Cross-sectional survey | n = 525 |
| Psychedelic Microdosing: Prevalence and Subjective Effects Anonymous online survey respondents | 2020 | Cross-sectional survey | n = 2,347 |
| Self-Rated Effectiveness of Microdosing With Psychedelics for Mental and Physical Health Problems Among Microdosers Adults 18 or older diagnosed with at least one mental or physiological disorder by a... | 2019 | Cross-sectional survey | n = 410 |
| Microdosing psychedelics: Demographics, practices, and psychiatric comorbidities Adults recruited primarily from the online forum Reddit | 2020 | Cross-sectional survey | n = 909 |
Citations in the library
Cited by 10
- Assessing the Potential Cardiovascular Risk of Microdosing the Psychedelic LSD in Mice ACS Pharmacology & Translational Science August 22, 2025
- Exploring a Decade of Microdosing Research: A Qualitative Meta-synthesis of Microdosing Literature Deviant Behavior February 9, 2026
- Association Between Lifetime Hallucinogen Use and Valvular Heart Disease: Findings from the All of Us Research Program Journal of Psychoactive Drugs May 18, 2026
- Psilocybin microdosing in the United States: Insights from a nationally representative survey Addiction March 8, 2026
- Online Availability of Diamond Shruumz Before and After FDA Recall Initiation: Qualitative Assessment and Simulated Test Purchasing. Journal of Medical Internet Research June 30, 2025
and 5 more in the library
Cites 24
- Effects of Psilocybin-Assisted Therapy on Major Depressive Disorder JAMA Psychiatry November 4, 2020
- Psychedelic Drug Legislative Reform and Legalization in the US JAMA Psychiatry December 7, 2022
- Powerful substances in tiny amounts Nordic Studies on Alcohol and Drugs February 1, 2018
- Motives and Side-Effects of Microdosing With Psychedelics Among Users The International Journal of Neuropsychopharmacology May 30, 2019
- Microdosing with psilocybin mushrooms: a double-blind placebo-controlled study Translational Psychiatry August 2, 2022
and 19 more in the library