In this report, the authors present new data from the 2025 RAND Psychedelics Survey. The report focuses on U.S. veterans’ use of specific psychedelic substances (such as psilocybin mushrooms, LSD, and ibogaine), their psychedelics policy preferences, and how these compare with nonveterans. It also presents veterans’ willingness to try these substances and their attitudes about U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs policies on certain psychedelics.

U.S. Veterans and Psychedelics

Prevalence of Use and Policy Preferences

Michelle Priest, Terry L. Schell, Ben Senator, Beau Kilmer

ResearchPublished Jun 23, 2026

Veteran issues in the United States often figure prominently in policy debates and media coverage surrounding psychedelic substances, such as psilocybin mushrooms and ibogaine. This is partially driven by the need to improve access and efficacy of treatments for mental health conditions, especially conditions (such as posttraumatic stress disorder) that are more common among veterans than nonveterans.

In this report, the authors present new data from the 2025 RAND Psychedelics Survey. The report focuses on the use of specific psychedelic substances and policy preferences among U.S. veterans and compares them with nonveterans. The report also includes data on veterans’ willingness to try these substances and their attitudes about U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) policies on certain psychedelics.

Key Takeaways

  • Nearly one in four veterans supported the legal use of psilocybin mushrooms. The rates for LSD and MDMA were 11 percent and 9 percent, respectively.
  • Veterans’ support for the legal use of psilocybin mushrooms, LSD, and MDMA was generally similar to nonveterans’ support. However, veterans were slightly more likely to support the legal use of psilocybin mushrooms and LSD than nonveterans of a similar age, gender, race, and ethnicity.
  • Approximately 4.8 million veterans had used psilocybin, LSD, or MDMA in their lifetime.
  • Veterans were slightly more likely to have used LSD in their lifetime than nonveterans.
  • Less than 1 percent of veterans had used ibogaine or iboga in their lifetime. About 5 percent of veterans who had never used ibogaine or iboga were willing to try it.
  • Nearly half of veterans were unsure whether a veteran would risk losing VA benefits if they spoke to their VA doctors about the use of psilocybin mushrooms (48 percent) or MDMA (46 percent).
  • About half of veterans supported VA providing or paying for psilocybin-assisted therapy (54 percent) or MDMA-assisted therapy (45 percent) if approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

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Priest, Michelle, Terry L. Schell, Ben Senator, and Beau Kilmer, U.S. Veterans and Psychedelics: Prevalence of Use and Policy Preferences. Santa Monica, CA: RAND Corporation, 2026. https://www.rand.org/pubs/research_reports/RRA4334-3.html.
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This research was supported by DAFgiving360 and conducted in the RAND Drug Policy Research Center.

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