Authors say despite increased use, there has not been widespread harm <\/p>\n<\/h3>\n
By Lori Solomon HealthDay Reporter<\/b>
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MONDAY, Dec. 1, 2025 (HealthDay News) — There has not been an increase in the need for emergency or inpatient care as a result of rising psychedelic use, according to a research letter published online Nov. 13 in JAMA Network Open<\/em>.<\/p>\n Jacob T. Steinle, M.D., from the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, and colleagues examined trends in hallucinogen-related emergency department and inpatient admissions. The analysis included hallucinogen-related emergency or hospital admissions among individuals aged 16 to 64 years, identified from the Merative MarketScan Commercial and Multi-State Medicaid databases (2016 to 2023).<\/p>\n The researchers found that among approximately 1.35\u202fmillion individuals with substance-related admissions from 2016 to 2023, 1.6 percent had at least one hallucinogen-related admission. Among the 15,420 individuals with hallucinogen-related admissions with at least six months of continuous enrollment preadmission, preadmission comorbidities included mood disorders (35.0 percent), anxiety disorders (29.2 percent), schizophrenia-spectrum disorders (14.7 percent), and non-nicotine substance-related disorders (18.9 percent). The monthly share of hallucinogen-related admissions ranged from 0.59 percent in January 2016 to 1.18 percent in January 2021. Alcohol- and opioid-related encounters dominated admissions throughout the study period. Models identified rising hallucinogen-related admissions until early 2020, followed by a decline through 2023.<\/p>\n “These findings add important context to other studies showing rises in hallucinogen use,” coauthor Richard Grucza, Ph.D., from Saint Louis University, said in a statement. “Those increases don’t seem to be contributing to rising emergency room visits, and if anything, alcohol and other drugs seem to be driving adverse consequences of psychedelic use.”<\/p>\n Two authors disclosed ties to the pharmaceutical industry.<\/p>\n