International prohibition means most psychedelic drugs are legally available only in research. There are currently around 60 psychedelic clinical trials globally with an estimated fewer than 6,000 people participating in them. But outside of these trials, more than 20,000 people have admitted taking LSD in the last 12 months, according to the 2020 Global Drug Survey. The survey also found the number of people consuming most psychedelics has more than doubled since 2015.
The bulk of recent psychedelic research has explored psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy and drug design chemistry. Research seldom addresses the reality of people who use psychedelics outside of clinical settings. To this day, we know little about how to best provide care to the many thousands of people who use psychedelics worldwide.
Psychedelics come with significant risk of harm. People under the influence of psychedelics have a diminished capability to respond, can perform inappropriate or regrettable behaviour, have challenging or negative experiences, particularly in the re-emergence of psychological trauma, as well as potentially creating new traumatic experiences.
