Poll: Majority of Americans Support Legal, Regulated Psychedelic Therapy

As a wave of psychedelic reform efforts continues to dominate the United States, it appears that most Americans are on board with the momentum. 

According to a new poll from Breakthrough Bulletin, a majority of Americans support the legalization and regulation of psychedelics therapy. Additionally, most also support federal decriminalization of substances like MDMA and psilocybin.

Breakthrough Bulletin conducted a national survey of 1,704 voters to gauge the stance of the American public surrounding expanded access to psychedelic treatment. It proceeds to mention that, taking the poll results into account, voters broadly believe that lawmakers aren’t focused enough on mental health, even more pressing since most voters know someone close to them who has experienced a serious mental health condition like depression (58%) or anxiety (55%).

“Our results also show strong voter support for both regulated access to psychedelic medicine and removing criminal penalties for possessing psychedelic substances,” Breakthrough Bulletin states.

In addition to asking about voter proximity to those experiencing mental health issues, nearly half of the voters said they had personally experienced symptoms of mental illness, including anxiety (48%) and depression (44%). Just over two-thirds of voters (68%) said that lawmakers in their state are not focused enough on mental health, a view shared across age, race, gender and education level.

The poll found that most voters (60%) supported reform to give adults access to regulated psychedelic treatment. Specifically, 72% of Democrats, 49% of Republicans and 58% of Independents said they supported legal access to psychedelic treatments.

Notably, support shot up eight percentage points to 68% when voters were informed of the evidence from leading medical institutions suggesting that psychedelic medicine can be very effective in treating mental health conditions. The prompt mentions that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has granted certain psychedelics a “breakthrough therapy status,” with the potential to be significantly more effective than existing therapies.

Republican support specifically jumped from 49% with no context to 67% with context.

Support also remained robust even after exposure to opposing messages, “these substances are known to cause people to hallucinate and enter an altered state of reality, which can be dangerous—both to the person receiving the treatment and those who administer it.” Even after hearing opposing arguments, overall support remained in the majority at 58%.

Voters also indicated that they would be more likely to support a legislator in their upcoming election if that legislator voted to pass a law giving adults over 21 access to regulated psilocybin treatment (58%). Most voters also supported a change in general law to remove criminal penalties for psychedelic substance possession (53%), with just 29% of voters opposing a law change to remove criminal penalties.

While there have been a number of surveys focusing on psychedelics in specific jurisdictions, this is one of few national polls focused on psychedelic therapy. However, one poll from YouGov dove in last year, finding that 28% of Americans have used one of seven psychedelic drugs (LSD, psilocybin, MDMA, mescaline/peyote, ketamine, DMT, salvia), with LSD and psilocybin ranking highest. 

The poll also found that people who have tried these drugs are more supportive of decriminalizing them, though it found that overall, Americans are more likely to oppose decriminalization measures than support them. However, a majority of Americans (54%) supported research around psychedelic-assisted treatment for veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

While cities around the country have made their own efforts surrounding psychedelic reform, Oregon and Colorado remain the only two states to advance on such efforts, both legalizing psilocybin for therapeutic use. 

It appears they are simply the start of a booming trend, as a Brandessence Market Research report revealed earlier this year that the psychedelic drug market is anticipated to reach a valuation of $11.82 billion by 2029, compared to an estimated $4.87 billion in 2022.