Psychedelics are having a moment — in labs, in legislatures and in mental health spaces. But how does the U.S. public actually feel about them? That’s what the UC Berkeley Psychedelics Survey set out to find.
Now in its second administration, this year’s survey tracks shifting American attitudes during a period of rapid legal, scientific, political and cultural change — providing the kind of data that can inform policymaking and public education. Building on an inaugural survey in 2023, the BCSP researchers refined their methodology and expanded into new areas of public opinion. Below, postdoctoral research scientist Tyrone Sgambati walks us through five big findings from 2025. (Note: The BCSP does not advocate for any specific policy positions or ballot measures). Read more about the report here.
UC Berkeley postdoctoral research scientist Tyrone Sgambati
Takeaway No. 1
Exposure to psychedelics is reaching new heights in the U.S., with an increasing number of voters reporting proximity to psychedelics.
While definitions differ, when people use the term psychedelics, the substances they are referring to often include psilocybin, LSD, DMT, ayahuasca, 5-MeO-DMT, mescaline, ibogaine, ketamine and MDMA. In our 2025 survey, we found that 57% of voters had either used psychedelics themselves or knew someone close to them who had — up from 53% in 2023. What’s especially interesting is that certain demographics saw much larger increases over that same time period. Three groups stand out: Black voters, older voters (over 65) and conservative voters all saw outsized increases in proximity to psychedelics. That means, for example, 15% more Black voters reported proximity to psychedelics than they did two years ago. Those groups are still below the national average in terms of overall exposure, but they’re catching up fast.
Takeaway No. 2
There is a lack of trust in professional sources of information about psychedelics, such as medical professionals.
In the survey, we asked about trust on different categories of people providing information on psychedelics. They included medical professionals, mental health professionals, professors at universities, faith leaders, etc. One big takeaway for us was that out of seven sources of information about psychedelics, none were overwhelmingly trusted by the population. Mental health professionals came out on top, but only around 30% of voters said they found them very trustworthy on this topic. That said, the most common response across the board was “somewhat trustworthy” and to me, that points to a potential opening for these sources to build trust with voters.
Takeaway #3
Support for policy reform is increasing.
This is one of the most interesting takeaways to me. We tracked support for policy proposals over time, and the picture is nuanced. On the one hand, we saw strong increases in support for regulated access — making psychedelics available as a prescription medicine and legalizing them for therapeutic use — and making it easier for scientists to study them. More than 50% of voters support making psychedelics easier to research, making it the most popular policy reform proposal we are tracking. On the other hand, support for decriminalizing personal use and possession of psychedelics remained unchanged, with only around 25% of voters indicating their support.
My read on that distinction is that a minority share of the population are increasingly supportive of regulated, controlled access, but significant concerns around safety remain.
Takeaway No. 4
People generally perceive psychedelics as most useful for PTSD and other mental health conditions.
A large proportion of voters see psychedelics as potentially useful for mental health conditions, whether that’s end-of-life distress, PTSD, trauma, anxiety or depression. Support was generally higher for treatment-resistant diagnoses, which might indicate a belief that psychedelics shouldn’t be the first line of treatment, but might be worth considering when nothing else has worked.
It’s also worth noting the high levels of uncertainty in these responses. For each of the uses we asked about, 17-33% of voters said they simply didn’t know how useful psychedelics would be — which speaks to a broader gap in public knowledge around the efficacy and the safety of psychedelics.
Takeaway No. 5
Concern and stigma about psychedelics is widespread, though many voters report not knowing enough to make judgments.
We asked voters to compare the safety of psychedelics to alcohol and tobacco, and only about 20% of voters said that psychedelics were safer than either. But when we asked about use in a supervised setting, the numbers shifted: 34% felt that supervised psychedelic use would be safe. We take that as a sign that people do believe that context and precautions matter.
We also found that over a third of voters consider psychedelics addictive, and 24% view people who use them as irresponsible or addicts. At the same time, users are most commonly perceived as open-minded and creative. So social perception is really mixed amongst our participants: creative and open-minded on one hand by some, while reckless and irresponsible by others.
Learn more about the 2025 UC Berkeley Psychedelics Survey here.
