About 8 million Americans used psilocybin in the past year, federal survey data show

An estimated 2.8% of people in the United States aged 12 and older used psilocybin in the past year, about 8 million people, according to an analysis of the 2024 National Survey on Drug Use and Health published in the American Journal of Psychiatry.¹

The 2024 survey was the first in the series to ask about psilocybin specifically rather than grouping it with other hallucinogens.¹ The survey is run each year by the federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.²

The depression link

The researchers found that people who'd had a major depressive episode in the past year were more likely to report psilocybin use, with adjusted odds about 1.37 times higher.¹ A survey like this can't say which came first. Some people may be using psilocybin to try to treat depression, others may have been depressed for unrelated reasons, and both could be true in the same population.

Why it matters

Earlier estimates relied on broader "hallucinogen" questions or on smaller, self-selected online samples. A national probability survey with a psilocybin question gives a firmer baseline for tracking how use changes as state laws and FDA decisions shift. It also means a large number of people are using psilocybin outside any clinical setting, which is the case for clear, practical safety information.