Science & Health
Psilocybin Use Has ‘Surged’ But Federal Law Is A ‘Major Barrier’ To Research, Study Published By American Medical Association Says
A new scientific review published by the American Medical Association (AMA) shows that use of psilocybin has “surged” in the U.S. in recent years amid the decriminalization movement and in light of “promising clinical trial results” on its therapeutic potential.
But the paper, released on Wednesday, also points out that current federal laws present “a major barrier” to researchers gaining a better understanding of the psychedelic substance’s true impacts.
As a result, similar to what’s been observed during the state-level marijuana legalization push, “public access and enthusiasm are outpacing regulatory oversight and scientific understanding, posing potential risks to public health,” researchers said.
An analysis of epidemiological and pharmacological studies on psilocybin-related trends from January 1-December 31, 2024—which also examined parallels to cannabis policy shifts—showed a sharp increase in the use of psychedelic mushrooms, “particularly among adults aged 19 to 50 years.”
The researchers from the University of Colorado said this increase in usage rates “coincided with a substantial increase in poison control center calls related to psychedelics,” and data from jurisdictions that have decriminalized entheogenic substances like psilocybin reveals “more than 20-fold variability in psilocybin potency and inconsistent levels of minor tryptamines across mushroom strains.”
“The expanding use of unregulated psilocybin mushrooms, combined with high variability in composition and common co-use with other substances, raises urgent public health concerns. Existing clinical data are insufficient to guide harm reduction or policy. There is a pressing need to pivot from controlled efficacy trials to real-world research on psilocybin use, including public education, potency testing, and age-specific risk assessment.”
The study, which was published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) Psychiatry, said it’s “critical” that the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and others in the academic community “prioritize research on the risks and potential benefits of natural psilocybin-containing mushrooms to inform harm reduction strategies.”
Researchers also zeroed in on parallels between cannabis and psilocybin usage and the challenges of studying their risks and benefits given their status as Schedule I drugs under the federal Controlled Substances Act (CSA).
“Psychedelic drug policy in the US is evolving rapidly, reflected in the steady increase of reform bills introduced each year, and is projected to follow a legislative trajectory somewhat similar to that of cannabis,” the review says. “Currently, both cannabis and psilocybin mushrooms are becoming more accessible and more widely accepted by the public and scientific communities.”
However, the authors cautioned that, “as with cannabis in its early stages, use of psychedelic mushrooms is advancing faster than the science, creating potential risks for consumers and raising public health and safety concerns.”
While the review says researching psilocybin mushrooms is more complicated than researching marijuana because of a lack of access to whole mushrooms (as opposed to synthetic psilocybin), that isn’t necessarily the case any longer, as of this year. The Scottsdale Research Institute (SRI) is federally approved to produce natural psilocybin for study purposes, and one of the initial grants for such research was approved in Arizona last month.
Even so, the authors said “very little is known about the acute or long-term effects of naturally occurring psilocybin as it is consumed by the public,” and, “in this way, Schedule I classification remains a major barrier to understanding the real-world public health impact of psychedelic mushrooms.”
The researchers said that the purpose of their review isn’t about advocating for “stricter laws or greater enforcement” of non-clinical psychedelic use. Rather, it’s to “underscore the urgent need for new research programs to address the public health implications of a social environment that is already promoting greater use of psilocybin and other psychedelics.”
“Much like cannabis, psilocybin carries both risks and potential benefits, which may be very different for different people depending on age, health status, and context of use,” they said.
“Conducting research on naturally occurring psilocybin mushrooms will not be easy, given the Schedule I status and the absence of a federally approved source of mushrooms for research. Nonetheless, given the sharp increase in consumer interest and the lack of generalizable research on naturally occurring psilocybin mushrooms, it is critical that the scientific community and funding agencies pivot from a narrow focus on clinical trials of synthetic psilocybin to the study of real-world psilocybin use and treat this shift as a public health priority.”
Meanwhile, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) in August formally requested that federal health officials conduct a medical scientific review on psilocybin in response to a long-pending rescheduling petition.
Under the Biden administration, there was stepped-up interest in examining certain psychedelics, with novel guidance for researchers from FDA in the pursuit of potential approvals, but the agency ultimately rejected an application to make MDMA-assisted therapy available for the treatment of PTSD.
In May, Secretary of Veterans Affairs Doug Collins touted the fact that he’s “one of the first” secretaries of the agency with a commitment to exploring psychedelics as a potential therapy option for veterans.
President Donald Trump’s latest surgeon general pick, Casey Means, has also been public about her own experience benefiting from psilocybin
Meanwhile, Reps. Jack Bergman (R-MI) and Lou Correa (D-CA)—co-chairs of the Congressional Psychedelic Advancing Therapies (PATH) Caucus—introduced a bill in April to provide $30 million in funding annually to establish psychedelics-focused “centers for excellence” at VA facilities, where veterans could receive novel treatment involving substances like psilocybin, MDMA and ibogaine.
Bergman has also expressed optimism about the prospects of advancing psychedelics reform under Trump, arguing that the administration’s efforts to cut spending and the federal workforce will give agencies “spines” to tackle such complex issues.
Collins also recently met with a military veteran who’s become an advocate for psilocybin access to discuss the therapeutic potential of psychedelic medicine for the veteran community.
Earlier this year, the secretary separately informed Trump during a Cabinet meeting that his agency is “opening up the possibility of psychedelic treatment” for veterans.
