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Perceived risk of LSD varies with age and race: evidence from 2019 United States cross-sectional data

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Abstract

Purpose

Psychedelics are being explored for their potential therapeutic benefits across a wide range of psychiatric diagnoses and may usher in a new age in psychiatric treatment. There is stigma associated with these currently illegal substances, and use varies by race and age. We hypothesized that minoritized racial and ethnic populations, relative to White respondents, would perceive psychedelic use as riskier.

Methods

Using 2019 cross-sectional data from the National Survey of Drug Use and Health, we conducted a secondary analysis of 41,679 respondents. Perceived risk of heroin was used as a surrogate for overall risk of illegal substance use; heroin and lysergic acid diethylamide were the only substances queried this way in the sample.

Results

A majority regarded lysergic acid diethylamide (66.7%) and heroin (87.3%) as a great risk if used once or twice. There were clear differences by race, with White respondents and those indicating more than one race having significantly lower perceived risk of lysergic acid diethylamide than respondents from other groups. Perceived risk of use also significantly increased with age.

Conclusion

Perceived risk of lysergic acid diethylamide is unevenly distributed across the population. Stigma and racial disparities in drug-related crimes likely contribute to this. As research into potential therapeutic indications for psychedelics continues, perceived risk of use may change.

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Data availability

The data that support the findings of this study are available in Substance Abuse & Mental Health Data Archive at https://www.datafiles.samhsa.gov/dataset/national-survey-drug-use-and-health-2019-nsduh-2019-ds0001. These data were derived from the following resources available in the public domain: National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NDDUH).

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the Iowa Department of Public Health State Opioid Response Corrections Liaison and SBIRT under Grants 5881SA144E, 5881SA145E, and 5881SA137E; the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration under Grant TI081620; and the Health Resources and Services Administration under Grant T25HP37624. N.L.B. was supported by the University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine Physician Scientist Training Pathway, Iowa City, IA.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychiatry, Indiana University, 355 W 16th St.,, Indianapolis, IN, 46202, USA

    Nicholas L. Bormann

  2. Department of Psychiatry, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA, USA

    Andrea N. Weber, Benjamin Miskle, Nicole Woodson-DeFauw, Stephan Arndt & Alison C. Lynch

  3. Department of Internal Medicine, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA, USA

    Andrea N. Weber

  4. Department of Pharmacy, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA, USA

    Benjamin Miskle

  5. Department of Family Medicine, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA, USA

    Nicole Woodson-DeFauw & Alison C. Lynch

  6. Department of Biostatistics, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA, USA

    Stephan Arndt

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Contributions

N.L.B, A.N.W. and S.A. wrote the main manuscript text, and S.A. and A.C.L. prepared figures. S.A. conceived of and preformed the analysis. A.C.L. obtained funding. All authors reviewed the manuscript and provided editing.

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Correspondence to Nicholas L. Bormann.

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Bormann, N.L., Weber, A.N., Miskle, B. et al. Perceived risk of LSD varies with age and race: evidence from 2019 United States cross-sectional data. Soc Psychiatry Psychiatr Epidemiol 58, 1503–1508 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00127-023-02448-6

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