U.S. Psychedelic Use and Microdosing in 2025: Insights from a Probability-Based and Nationally Representative Survey.
Michelle Priest, Beau Kilmer, Ben Senator, C. Setodji
Rand health quarterly June 1, 2026 DOI: 10.7249/rhq-13-03-02 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Survey Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Population | U.S. adults |
| Topics | Microdosing |
| Key findings | Microdosing psilocybin, LSD, and MDMA is a prevalent practice among users of psychedelic substances, and these data can inform policy discussions about alternatives to prohibition. |
Abstract
An increasing number of U.S. states are implementing or considering alternative policies to the prohibition of some psychedelic substances for nonclinical purposes. The authors present new data and analysis to inform these discussions with survey results on the use of 11 psychedelic substances and detailed information about the prevalence of microdosing (i.e., taking a fraction of a full dose, often on a schedule) for psilocybin, LSD, and MDMA.
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 3
- A Randomized, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Single-Ascending-Dose Study to Identify a Subperceptual Dose of Psilocybin in Healthy Adults Pharmaceuticals September 21, 2026
- Psychedelics and suicidality: A double-edged sword - risks, mechanisms, and moving forward. European Neuropsychopharmacology September 19, 2026
- U.S. Veterans and Psychedelics: Prevalence of Use and Policy Preferences. Rand health quarterly September 2026