A report presented on Tuesday during the Rocky Mountain Poison and Drug Safety’s annual scientific meeting showed that young adults have the highest use of psychedelic substances of any age demographic.

Nearly 8% of the adults who reported using at least one psychedelic substance in 2024 while participating in the inaugural National Survey Investigating Hallucinogenic Trends (NSIHT) Data Report were between the ages of 19 and 25, according to the report. The total fraction of adults surveyed who reported using a psychedelic substance in 2024 was 4.5%, a population around 12 million.

Additional major findings in the report included that psilocybin was the most commonly used psychedelic substance, with 2.1% of surveyed adults reporting its use, and most perceived improvements in their mental health after taking the substance.

The most common setting of those using psychedelics was with friends or family and in small, private settings, the report noted.

Since initially legalizing psychedelics in 2022, Colorado has instituted regulatory frameworks for psychedelic businesses and granted the governor the ability to pardon those convicted of possessing the formerly illegal drug. In June, Gov. Jared Polis was the keynote speaker at the Psychedelic Science Conference at the Colorado Convention Center in downtown Denver.

Polis announces mass pardons for psilocybin possession at Denver psychedelics conference

Researchers who worked on related psychedelic use studies highlighted the variation that came with conducting such research into the consumption of the drugs during Tuesday’s meeting.

The most common use of the substances, a group that made up 30% of all psychedelic use, was defined as “indiscriminate drug preferences,” and included MDMA, LSD and DMT, according to Kari Rockhill, who worked on the study.

“These are people who reported monthly or more often,” Rockhill said during the meeting. “We saw pretty high co-use with both cannabis and alcohol.”

The second most predominant group, making up over 24% of all use, were people who used the drugs infrequently for recreational purposes and had minimal co-use with other substances, Rockhill added.

Men outpaced women in using psychedelics, with nearly 6% of surveyed male participants reporting they had used any psychedelic substance compared to just 3.2% of females, according to the report. Geographically, the western U.S. far outpaced the eastern half of the country in psychedelic use, with the Pacific cost recording the highest use prevalence at 6.4% and New England the lowest at 3.2%

Those surveyed listed the most common reason for using psychedelics as for fun or enjoyment, the report says.

“Psychedelic use is moving from the fringe to mainstream, with legalization efforts, pharmaceutical development and accelerating public interest,” said Andrew Monte, associate director of Rocky Mountain Poison and Drug Safety, via a corresponding news release. “Policy, regulation, and patient education must be guided by credible, national evidence. (This survey) is the gold standard for delivering it.”