Shroom bloom: Psychedelic drug use among American under-30s doubles in just three years
Daily Mail The number of young adults using psychedelics has doubled in just three years in the United States, a study suggests.
Researchers led by the University of Michigan found that 6.6 percent of 19 to 30-year-olds said they had used a hallucinogenic drug except LSD over the last year in 2021, the latest figures.
For comparison, only 3.4 percent admitted to using the drugs less than half a decade beforehand in 2018.
The uptick, which scientists warned was a 'dramatic' increase, comes amid studies suggesting that psychedelics like magic mushrooms could help to treat depression and other mental health conditions.
The survey results were revealed this week by the University of Michigan as part of its Monitoring the Future study tracking the behaviors of more than 50,000 young adults in the US.
Dr Megan Patrick, a substance use expert at the university who was involved in the study, said: 'While non-LSD hallucinogen use remains substantially less prevalent than use of substances such as alcohol and cannabis, a doubling of prevalence in just three years is a dramatic increase and raises possible public health concerns.'
