Health and Medicine
PUBLISHED
In 2020, Oregon became the first US state to approve the use of psilocybin therapy, and new data suggests that the psychedelic drug is being used to great effect at state-regulated clinics.
Among those accessing legal psilocybin therapy in Oregon, the majority report significant improvements in mental health, wellbeing, and life satisfaction in the three months after treatment, with very few patients experiencing adverse events.
Since 2023, more than 20,000 people have legally accessed psilocybin therapy in Oregon, with 26 treatment centers currently holding licenses to administer the drug. Using data from 24 of these clinics, researchers analyzed the experiences and outcomes of 346 patients, all of whom underwent treatment between November 2024 and March 2026.
“Most participants were highly satisfied with their psilocybin experience, would recommend their licensed service center and facilitator, felt the experience was beneficial, and that their goals for seeking services had been met,” write the study authors.
One month after taking the drug, 92.2 percent of individuals stated that they had benefited from their treatment, with 58.6 percent ranking the experience among the 10 most meaningful events of their life.
Prior to treatment, 63 percent of participants said they were satisfied with their lives, yet this figure rose to 82.3 percent three months after taking psilocybin. On average, scores on a standard test that measures wellbeing rose from 22.1 at baseline to 25.3 at the three-month follow-up.
In terms of mental health benefits, average depression scores fell from 9.3 before treatment to just 5.2 three months later, with anxiety scores decreasing from 10.1 to 6.0 across the same period. Post-traumatic stress scores, meanwhile, dropped from 14.1 at baseline to 10.4 three months after undergoing psilocybin therapy.
In total, just four participants reported experiencing adverse effects requiring medical attention in the three months following their treatment. Interestingly, however, the researchers explain that three of these individuals still described their psilocybin experience as “highly meaningful”, while two claimed that their therapy was “goal-fulfilling”.
According to the study authors, these findings highlight “the complexity of defining harm in psychedelic contexts.”
The study represents the first multi-site analysis of the safety and efficacy of psilocybin therapy administered at legal, state-regulated clinics.
In the years since Oregon approved the use of the psychedelic, other states including Colorado and Mexico have moved to expand access to the drug in therapeutic settings, while the federal government has also recently thrown its support behind psychedelic therapies.
A considerable amount of research into the effectiveness of these substances is still needed before any widescale rollout of psychedelic treatments can become feasible, although the results of this Oregon-based study are sure to bolster the growing support for psilocybin across the US.
The study is published in the journal JAMA Network Open.
