As the world seems to get riskier and riskier each day, so do the people living in it. It has been made aware of a new study that adults’ LSD use has exponentially become more popular due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
University of Cincinnati doctoral candidate Andrew Yockey published one of the first studies to ever examine acid usage in US adults. Researchers analyzed responses of 168,000 Americans and concluded that within 2015 and 2018, usage increased by 56.4% in the US.
“LSD is used primarily to escape. And given that the world’s on fire, people might be using it as a therapeutic mechanism,” Yockey told Scientific American. “Now that COVID’s hit, I’d guess that use has probably tripled.”
To everyone’s surprise, those with college degrees and middle-aged folks in between the ages of 35 and 49 were trippin’ harder than others during that time. Degree holders did 70% more LSD and 30-and-40-somethings did about 223% more. Researchers are paying dues to this higher drug use to the 2016 election. Certain demographics have been overwhelmed and have looked for an escape outlet. The fad of microdosing could also be a cause of this.
Although these numbers seem high, it doesn’t compare to the staggering numbers in the mid-20th century. LSD has been said to improve moods and one’s mindset, while others have reported that acid has cured their depressions and Lyme disease-related pain.
However, as it’s still considered criminal (though Oregon recently legalized it), scientists aren’t able to easily explore its positive impacts on society.
