A study from the RAND Corporation has revealed a significant gap between the growing political momentum for psychedelic reform and actual US public opinion. While states like Oregon and Colorado have already moved toward regulated access, the majority of the American public remains cautious, particularly regarding synthetic substances like MDMA and LSD.

Psilocybin, The Preferred Choice

The 2025 RAND Psychedelics Survey found that psilocybin, often referred to as “magic mushrooms,” enjoys the highest level of support among psychedelics, with 23.1% of US adults backing its legalisation.

Interestingly, researchers noted that current support for psilocybin mirrors the public sentiment for cannabis in the mid-1990s, which was the period immediately preceding the first wave of state-level medical marijuana laws. For context, support for legal cannabis today stands at 64.6%. Whether psilocybin will follow this same exponential trajectory toward mainstream acceptance remains a central question for the psychedelics space.

Ambivalence Towards MDMA and LSD

Despite high-profile clinical trials and FDA-track research, synthetic psychedelics and empathogens face a much steeper climb in the face of public opinion.

Only 9.2% of respondents said they support MDMA for legal use. Support for LSD sits slightly higher at 9.9%, and more than three-quarters of Americans believe that both MDMA and LSD should remain illegal.

The report suggests that the public differentiates between “natural” and “synthetic” substances, showing a positive bias towards fungi-based medicines against lab-synthesised compounds.

Medical-First

The study highlights that support is not “all or nothing.” Even among those who oppose broad legalisation, there is significant support for therapeutic use.

Addressing mental or physical health conditions was the most cited reason for allowing legal access across all three substances: psilocybin (29.7%), LSD (22.7%), and MDMA (18.4%).

Respondents also showed support for taking psychedelics in a supervised setting. When asked how adults should access these medicines, the most endorsed model was at a medical facility under professional supervision (48.5% for psilocybin).

The Experience Gap

Personal experience remains a powerful driver of opinion. Among individuals who have actually used psilocybin, support for legalisation jumps to 61.6%. This follows the trend seen in the cannabis sector, where 80% of lifetime users support its legal status.

As the UK and Europe look to the US for regulatory cues, these data serve as a sobering reminder: while the “psychedelic renaissance” is well-underway in research labs and state legislatures, winning over the general public will require a sustained focus on medical safety and controlled environments, as well as clear communication on mainstream channels.

The RAND Corporation is a non-profit, non-partisan policy think tank known for its strict peer-review processes and a history of informing complex national security and health policies.

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One of Britain’s central think tanks for drug policy reform is looking for new partners to join forces in 2026.

Over its five-year history, the group has achieved major milestones, which include consulting with the UK Home Office on a recent call for submissions on barriers to research scheduled substances.

In July 2025 the UK government responded to recommendations by the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs on rescheduling psychedelics for clinical research, agreeing in principle to ease licensing for universities and hospitals and exempt approved clinical trials from Home Office licences.

“I like to think we swayed them with our evidence”, said James Bunn, Head of Operations at Drug Science, the organisation overseeing the group.

The group is currently on the lookout for new members and corporate partners.

“We’ve seen what collaboration can achieve with medical cannabis. Now it’s time to apply that same evidence-based, patient-led approach to psychedelics”, said Drug Science founder Professor David Nutt. 

What Is the Medical Psychedelics Working Group?

The Medical Psychedelics Working Group was established in 2020 in response to growing scientific evidence, shifting regulatory landscapes, and the persistent barriers facing legitimate psychedelic research. 

Following the legalisation of medical cannabis in the UK in 2018, a need emerged for coordinated, interdisciplinary action to ensure psychedelic medicines could be responsibly developed within public health systems.

Created to challenge decades of medical marginalisation, the group seeks to advance a rational and evidence-based approach to psychedelic research and clinical treatment. Its work focuses on generating robust scientific data, supporting regulatory reform, and improving understanding among policymakers, clinicians, researchers, and the wider public. 

Central to this mission is addressing the constraints imposed by Schedule 1 classification, which continues to limit research through cost, complexity, and delay.

“While the legislation did not preclude scientific research with these drugs, it made them significantly more difficult, time-consuming and costly to study”, said Bunn. “Drug Science’s Medical Psychedelics Working Group aims to change this situation for the better.”

Major Achievements and Upcoming Goals

Currently, the group is running an MDMA psychotherapy research trial in collaboration with University College London. The study aims to improve understanding of MDMA-assisted psychotherapy, focusing on how the psychotherapeutic component interacts with the drug’s effects. The project aims to clarify treatment mechanisms and enhance safety and efficacy.

Drug Science Head of Research, Dr. Anne Schlag, says the group is “continuously responding to the government’s call for evidence”.

This includes a recent response to a 2026 ketamine review by the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs, which was commissioned last year to assess harms and legal classification. 

With funding by Norrsken Foundation, the group is running an MCDA (multi-criteria decision analysis) comparing treatments for treatment resistant depression, including psilocybin and ketamine. We can expect results for the analysis before July, says Schlag.

The group is also working closely together with Australian colleagues such as Prof Ranil Gunewardene, to understand, document and publish everything related to the developments in MDMA and psilocybin rescheduling in Australia.

“We hope [it] can serve as an example for the UK and Europe. A very exciting case series of the first fifteen MDMA patients is forthcoming!” says Schlag.

Other key achievements include developing the ARC: a framework for Access, Reciprocity and Conduct in psychedelic therapies, which was published in Frontiers in Psychiatry in 2023; and developing a lexicon for psychedelic research and treatment, described as “a key paper delineating a standardised terminology for clinical development and regulatory classification for psychedelic medicines.”

An upcoming project focused on psilocybin for palliative care will be announced over the summer.

“I would urge any organisation that shares our vision to join us in shaping the future of mental healthcare”, concludes Prof. Nutt.

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A new study investigates how so-called “self-transcendent” psychedelic states can trigger enduring changes in meaning-making, values, and perceptions of reality.

A new study published in Nature explores how psychedelic experiences can lead to lasting changes in how people understand themselves, others, and the world. Rather than focusing on symptom reduction or clinical outcomes, this new research examines something more foundational: how psychedelics may shift a person’s underlying worldview.

The research team used a mixed-methods design combining quantitative scales with qualitative analysis. Ninety participants who reported having undergone a transformative psychedelic experience completed questionnaires measuring awe and perceived connectedness, alongside open-ended questions about how their perspectives had changed. Around three-quarters of participants were based in the UK, with the remainder from other English-speaking countries and Europe.

 Breaking Mental Frameworks Through Awe

Researchers have previously argued for incorporating metaphysical philosophy into psychedelic therapy to help improve therapeutic outcomes.

At the core of the new study is the concept of awe. Awe is described as an “epistemic emotion”, one that arises when existing mental frameworks are insufficient to explain an experience. Psychedelic states often evoke this response through feelings of vastness, boundlessness, and deep interconnectedness. According to the authors, such experiences can force a re-evaluation of previously held assumptions about the self and the world.

Quantitative analysis showed that two aspects of awe recalled from the psychedelic experience, perceived vastness and connectedness, were significantly associated with greater perceived overlap between the self and others long after the experience had ended. In other words, participants who recalled more intense feelings of vastness and connection during their psychedelic experience were more likely to later report feeling less psychologically separate from other people, non-human life, and the world as a whole.

The qualitative findings add further depth. Through thematic network analysis, the researchers identified three clusters of epistemic shifts commonly reported by participants. Previously, researchers have determined that a mystical and insightful psychedelic drug experience may be linked to long-term reductions in anxiety and depression symptoms.

The first involved an expanded awareness and greater openness to complexity. Many participants described becoming more comfortable with uncertainty and ambiguity, and less reliant on rigid or reductionist explanations of reality.

The second cluster related to the dissolution of boundaries, both social and natural. Participants reported weakened distinctions between self and other, human and non-human, and mind and environment. This often translated into a more holistic or systems-based way of thinking.

The third cluster centred on increased prosociality. Participants frequently described greater compassion, acceptance of difference, and concern for others and the wider ecological system. These changes were not framed as abstract beliefs, but as practical shifts in how people related to others and made everyday decisions.

The authors situate these findings within broader theories of psychedelic action, including predictive coding models, which suggest that psychedelics relax rigid top-down beliefs and allow new interpretations to emerge. From this perspective, psychedelic-induced awe may act as a catalyst for reorganising how meaning is constructed.

Importantly, the paper emphasises that such worldview shifts require integration. Without appropriate cultural, social, and psychological support, the authors note that profound experiences of “boundlessness” may be destabilising rather than beneficial.

As psychedelic research increasingly moves beyond symptom-focused outcomes, this study highlights the importance of understanding how these substances can reshape fundamental ways of knowing, with implications for mental health, social connection, and ecological awareness.

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