Who Is Reached by Supervised Psilocybin Services? Oregon Services Versus National Psilocybin Use
- 1Department of Psychiatry, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, USA
Abstract
Supervised psilocybin services are expanding across the United States, yet how individuals accessing these programs compare with those using psilocybin in the general population is unknown. We conducted a cross-sectional descriptive comparison of Oregon Psilocybin Services (OPS) data from licensed service centers in 2025 (5,935 encounters) and the 2024 National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH) public-use file (1,822 of 47,299 adults reporting past-year psilocybin use), examining demographics, reasons for use, self-reported disability, and past-year psychiatric conditions and treatment. OPS clients were predominantly female (58.2%) and aged 35 or older (82.1%), whereas adults reporting psilocybin use nationally were predominantly male (64.0%) and younger than 35 (56.7%). Racial and ethnic minority representation was narrower in Oregon (0.9% Black, 2.5% Hispanic vs. 5.4% and 14.3% nationally). OPS clients reported higher incomes (58.5% earning >$95,000) and primarily cited wellness; self-reported disability was uncommon. Adults using psilocybin nationally had high past-year rates of major depressive episode (22.7%), serious psychological distress (36.8%), substance use disorder (61.7%), and mental health treatment receipt (42.9%). Oregons open-access model selects higher-income, clinically stable, wellness-oriented adults, while millions with psychiatric and substance-use burden use psilocybin outside supervised channels; its safety and utilization data should not be generalized.
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BibTeX
@misc{costa2026reached,
title = {{Who Is Reached by Supervised Psilocybin Services? Oregon Services Versus National Psilocybin Use}},
author = {G. P. A. Costa and C. Riggione and C. Pittenger and J. P. De Aquino},
howpublished = {medRxiv},
year = {2026},
month = sep,
doi = {10.64898/2026.09.03.26362170},
url = {https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.09.03.26362170v1},
note = {CC BY-NC-ND},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - Who Is Reached by Supervised Psilocybin Services? Oregon Services Versus National Psilocybin Use
AU - G. P. A. Costa
AU - C. Riggione
AU - C. Pittenger
AU - J. P. De Aquino
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/09/03
PB - medRxiv
DO - 10.64898/2026.09.03.26362170
UR - https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.09.03.26362170v1
AB - Supervised psilocybin services are expanding across the United States, yet how individuals accessing these programs compare with those using psilocybin in the general population is unknown. We conducted a cross-sectional descriptive comparison of Oregon Psilocybin Services (OPS) data from licensed service centers in 2025 (5,935 encounters) and the 2024 National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH) public-use file (1,822 of 47,299 adults reporting past-year psilocybin use), examining demographics, reasons for use, self-reported disability, and past-year psychiatric conditions and treatment. OPS clients were predominantly female (58.2%) and aged 35 or older (82.1%), whereas adults reporting psilocybin use nationally were predominantly male (64.0%) and younger than 35 (56.7%). Racial and ethnic minority representation was narrower in Oregon (0.9% Black, 2.5% Hispanic vs. 5.4% and 14.3% nationally). OPS clients reported higher incomes (58.5% earning >$95,000) and primarily cited wellness; self-reported disability was uncommon. Adults using psilocybin nationally had high past-year rates of major depressive episode (22.7%), serious psychological distress (36.8%), substance use disorder (61.7%), and mental health treatment receipt (42.9%). Oregons open-access model selects higher-income, clinically stable, wellness-oriented adults, while millions with psychiatric and substance-use burden use psilocybin outside supervised channels; its safety and utilization data should not be generalized.
ER -