Perceptions of Psychedelic Decriminalization: Findings from a Community Survey of People Who Use Psychedelics

This study included 163 people who use psychedelics and lived in jurisdictions where psychedelic decriminalization policies had been implemented.

The headline result was:

• 84.0% reported an improvement in at least one of the domains assessed following decriminalization.

• Only 5.5% reported a worsening in any of those domains.

Social acceptance was one of the clearest perceived changes

Participants reported improvements in the social acceptance of psychedelic use, alongside changes in availability and perceived safety.

Perceived access to psychedelic therapy also improved

Approximately three-quarters of respondents reported improvements relating to psychedelic therapy, including perceived:

• social acceptance,

• availability, and

• diversity of therapeutic services

Respondents reported improvements in broader life circumstances. A particularly interesting finding was that 72.4% reported improvement in at least one broader life-condition category.

Some participants reduced conventional medication use. More than 27% of respondents reported that they had either stopped or reduced traditional pharmaceutical medication use because of psychedelic decriminalization.

However around one-fifth of participants reported having been scammed when attempting to purchase psychedelics, although most of those incidents occurred before decriminalization.

Abstract

Psychedelic decriminalization has moved from the margins of drug-policy discourse to a mainstream public health and equity conversation. This community survey reveals that people with psychedelic experience who live in areas that have decriminalized psychedelics report greater benefits of psychedelic decriminalization than adverse outcomes.

In decriminalized zones, most (84.0%) participants (N = 163) reported feeling improvements in one of the following areas because of decriminalization: legal risks, social acceptance, substance availability, substance safety, diversity of available products, and overall substance quality. Only 5.5% of participants reported worsened conditions in any category. Most (74.8%) participants also reported decriminalization-related improvements related to psychedelic therapy, such as social acceptance, availability, legal risks, safety, and diversity of services available.

Notably, no participant reported that legal risk had worsened. Post decriminalization, most (72.4%) participants reported improvements in life conditions including stress and anxiety, worry, depressive symptoms, physical health, addiction, family relationships, other relationships, connection to community, working conditions, and financial status.

Only 8.6% of participants reported declines in any category regarding psychedelic therapy or life conditions (2.5%). Although our methodology precludes attributions of causality, this initial study may inspire research with more sophisticated methodologies.

Kruger, D.J.; Barron, J.; Norris, L. Perceptions of Psychedelic Decriminalization: Findings from a Community Survey of People Who Use Psychedelics. Soc. Sci. 2026, 15, 569. Read Paper

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