An increasing number of U.S. states are implementing or considering changes to psychedelics policies. Using data from the 2025 RAND Psychedelics Survey, the authors examine public opinion about legalizing psilocybin mushrooms, LSD, and MDMA. For each substance, the authors asked whether use should be legal, for which reasons, and how substances should be supplied if made legal (e.g., at a medical facility under supervision, sold in dispensaries).

Public Opinion on Legalizing Psychedelics

Ben Senator, Michelle Priest, Beau Kilmer

ResearchPublished Feb 24, 2026

An increasing number of U.S. states are implementing or considering changes to psychedelics policies. To help improve policy discussions and provide baseline information to ground these debates, the authors fielded the 2025 RAND Psychedelics Survey (RPS). The 2025 RPS is the first probability-based and nationally representative survey to measure U.S. public opinion about legalizing three psychedelic substances: psilocybin mushrooms, LSD, and MDMA. For each substance, the authors asked whether use should be legal, for which reasons adults should be allowed to use the substances, and how they should be supplied if made legal (e.g., at a medical facility under supervision, sold in dispensaries). For comparison purposes, the authors also included questions about whether using cannabis and cocaine should be legal.

Key Findings

  • Support for the legal use of psilocybin mushrooms (23 percent) is much lower than it is for cannabis (65 percent). For LSD and MDMA, support for legal use is closer to 10 percent.
  • Support for the legal use of psilocybin mushrooms is similar to cannabis support in the mid-1990s — just before state medical cannabis laws started to be implemented. It is unclear whether psilocybin will follow a similar trajectory in terms of public opinion or policy changes.
  • Of U.S. adults who have used psilocybin mushrooms, 62 percent support the legal use of psilocybin mushrooms. For comparison, 80 percent of U.S. adults who have used cannabis support its legal use.
  • Moving beyond a simple "yes, no, or don't know" question provides richer information. Among those who endorse the legal use of psilocybin mushrooms, only 42 percent say that adults should be able to use them for any reason. Conversely, among those who say that the use of psilocybin mushrooms should be illegal, only 62 percent say that use should be illegal for any reason.
  • When respondents were asked about reasons for allowing legal use, addressing a mental or physical health condition is the most endorsed reason for psilocybin, LSD, and MDMA.
  • When respondents were asked where adults should get psilocybin mushrooms if they were legal, using them at a medical facility under supervision is most endorsed option (49 percent). About 28 percent endorse getting mushrooms from a dispensary, and 23 percent endorse allowing adults to grow or forage for personal use.

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Senator, Ben, Michelle Priest, and Beau Kilmer, Public Opinion on Legalizing Psychedelics. Santa Monica, CA: RAND Corporation, 2026. https://www.rand.org/pubs/research_reports/RRA4334-2.html.
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This research was supported by DAFgiving360 and conducted by the RAND Drug Policy Research Center.

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