Report · Health

Where people draw the line on recreational psychedelics

Reading

In a Verasight survey of 1,000 U.S. adults conducted May 1 to 4, 2026, 69% of Americans opposed legal recreational or non-medical psychedelics.

That includes 45% who said psychedelics should be legal for medical purposes only and 24% who said they should not be legal in any case. About three-in-ten said psychedelics should be legal for recreational or non-medical purposes.

Topline

single choice

Topline distribution

69% opposed legal recreational or non-medical psychedelics.

Do you believe psychedelics should be legal for recreational or non-medical purposes?

  • No (medical purposes only) 44.8%
  • Yes 30.7%
  • No (not legal in any case) 24.5%

2026 · base n 1,000 · +/- 3.3%

2

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Methodology

Full methodology
Mode
Verasight panel recruited via random address-based sampling, random person-to-person text messaging, and dynamic online targeting
Field dates
2026-05-01 → 2026-05-04
Base (unweighted)
1,000
Margin of error
+/- 3.3%
Module
2

Source

Citation

SBM Omnibus Survey #2026-049, fielded May 1-4, 2026, N=1,000 US adults age 18+, +/- 3.3%.

https://reports.verasight.io/r/sbm-2026

Verasight survey methodology

How Verasight conducts surveys.

This page describes the Verasight general survey contract, separate from how the Data Library packages it. When a wave report is published, its field dates, sample sizes, and module breakdown are listed in that report.

Mode
Verasight panel recruited via random address-based sampling, random person-to-person text messaging, and dynamic online targeting.
Population
US adults age 18+.
Sample design
Surveys are run as omnibus or single-topic waves. Omnibus waves are split into modules with their own respondent set, typically around one thousand respondents per module.
Field window
Each wave specifies its own field dates. Most omnibus waves field across roughly two weeks.
Weighting
Per-module weighting to CPS targets including age, race and ethnicity, sex, income, education, region, and metropolitan status.
Partisanship benchmark
Pew Research Center's NPORS benchmarking surveys, three-year running average.
Vote benchmark
2024 presidential vote population benchmarks.
Margin of error
Typically about plus or minus 3.4 to 3.6 percent per module at standard module sizes. Question-level MoE is recomputed when a base shrinks materially below the module baseline.
Reporting
The canonical report hub is reports.verasight.io. Verified legacy reports remain on their original hosts, and unpublished reports are marked pending.
Transparency
Verasight is a member of the American Association for Public Opinion Research Transparency Initiative.

The canonical report hub is reports.verasight.io; older reports may remain on verified legacy hosts.