The RAND Corporation published a new report on U.S. Psychedelic Use and Microdosing in 2025, based on a September 2025 survey to a probability-based, nationally representative sample of 10,122 adults aged 18 and older, living in the United States at the time.
The report delivers information about the use of eleven psychedelic substances, along with detailed information about microdosing – taking a small fraction of a full dose, often intermittently on a schedule – for psilocybin, LSD, and MDMA.
The eleven substances included in the RAND study are:
- Psilocybin
- MDMA
- Amanita muscaria mushrooms
- Ketamine
- LSD
- DMT (also known as ayahuasca)
- Mescaline (also known as peyote)
- 2C-B or other synthetic phenethylamines
- Salvia divinorum (also known as diviner’s sage)
- Ibogaine or iboga
- 5-MeO-DMT (also known as 5 or toad)
While various studies have sought to explore how frequently psychedelics are used across the country, RAND noted that many of them have various limitations, such as not including certain psychedelics within their questionnaires, or not asking questions regarding how the psychedelics are used.
According to RAND, the five most commonly used psychedelics in the U.S. were:
- Psilocybin, with a 4.26% usage rate, an estimated 11 million people
- MDMA/MDA, with a 1.81% usage rate, an estimated 4.7 million people
- Amanita muscariamushrooms, with a 1.34% usage rate, an estimated 3.5 million people
- Ketamine, with a 1.2% usage rate, an estimated 3.3 million people
- LSD, with a1.15% usage rate, an estimated 3 million people
As for microdosing, the RAND study asked survey participants about their microdosing habits only for psilocybin, LSD, or MDMA within the past year. Those who microdose report doing so for many reasons, ranging from managing anxiety and depression symptoms to improving mood and creativity
Although there is no official standard for what constitutes a microdose, a commonly used measure is 10% or less of the regular dose one would take to feel the full perception-altering effects of a psychedelic substance
An estimated 9.55 million Americans microdosed in the last year on one or more substances, making up approximately 3.7% of the U.S population. Among individuals who reported using psilocybin in the past year, 69% reported microdosing at least once. MDMA saw a 65% microdosing rate, while LSD saw a 59% rate.
